Pentagon Leaders Address Rising Casualties as U.S. and Israel Intensify Strikes, Iran Rejects Talks
ARLINGTON, Va.: The United States is preparing for “additional losses” in its military campaign after four U.S. troops were killed this weekend during operations inside Iran, U.S. Air Force General Dan Caine said Monday evening.
General Caine and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke from the Pentagon amid ongoing U.S. strikes on Iranian military and strategic targets. The deaths mark the first American combat fatalities in the intensifying conflict.
The strikes follow a joint “pre‑emptive” offensive by U.S. and Israeli forces, announced by former President Donald Trump as the start of “major combat operations” against Iran. State media in Tehran reported that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the attacks, claims that remain unverified.
Iranian political figure Ali Larijani said Tehran will refuse negotiations with Washington, despite reports that Iran sought to restart diplomatic talks before the escalation.
Since February 28, more than 555 people have been reported killed in U.S.–Israeli air and missile strikes across at least 131 Iranian cities. In retaliation, Iran has launched attacks on key U.S. bases in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait, extending the conflict across the region.
Iran has also confirmed the death of Mansoureh Khojasteh Bagherzadeh, 78, widow of the late Supreme Leader, succumbing to wounds sustained in a recent missile barrage in Tehran.
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