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Pentagon lowers official Iran war death toll, omitting four killed this month

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The Pentagon lowered its official death toll for the Iran war to 14 from 18 in the space of a day, after the Trump administration removed four service members killed this month from the count, according to the Defense Casualty Analysis System. Three military officials told the Times that the four service members killed this past weekend — three in Jordan and one in northern Iraq — were struck from the list because their deaths came after President Donald Trump declared a ceasefire in April. The acting press secretary for the Pentagon, Joel Valdez, attributed the change to 'temporary data disruptions' on the department's casualty website that he said would be fixed quickly. Trump himself has used the higher figure for the death toll. At an event on Thursday, he said, 'I had a very sad day yesterday. I went to Dover, four great American patriots killed. That's 18 … and one is too many, but it's 18.' The Pentagon has released little on U.S. military strategy since the ceasefire collapsed and hasn't held a major briefing on the war since early May.