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Dozens of US troops were wounded in three Iranian strikes in Jordan that the Pentagon kept quiet in the week before Friday's attack that killed two American soldiers and left one missing.
The attacks damaged multiple American helicopters and were never publicly disclosed, but multiple officials confirmed them to the New York Times on Monday.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said last week it was retaliating against Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, never mentioning the strikes on American troops in Jordan.
The discrepancy exposes the tension between what the Pentagon says it must keep secret to protect operational security and its obligation to keep the public informed about the war.
CENTCOM is not required to release information about injured troops.
Many of the injuries were not severe, and revealing details about the wounded could aid Iran as it attacks bases housing thousands of US troops, Pentagon officials told the Times.
Pentagon Dismisses Cover-Up Claims
It comes after First Lieutenant Tyler James Feehan, 25, and Private Isabella Gonzales, 19, were killed in the attack on a US air base in Jordan on Friday. They were the first American troops killed in the Iran war since March, bringing the death toll to 17.
Central Command is also working to establish whether remains found near the Jordan base belong to a third soldier who is listed as missing.
Another American soldier was killed in northern Iraq on Saturday during the controlled detonation of an unexploded Iranian drone. The Pentagon has not released the soldier's identity.
More than 400 troops have been injured in the conflict since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on February 28. The Pentagon has not updated the total wounded in several weeks.
Spokesman Sean Parnell dismissed claims of a cover-up as 'baseless and malicious' and torched 'partisan hacks at the New York Times who are desperate to smear America's military.'
'Claims of concealment are fabrications meant to further distress the American people in the wake of three service gmembers killed in action. Disgusting behavior, even for the New York Times,' said the Pentagon representative.
US Launches Ninth Consecutive Wave of Strikes
'In fact, US military casualty information is publicly available and regularly updated online on the Defense Casualty Analysis System for everyone, including the media, to review.
'Injuries in the military encompass everything from minor sprained ankles during routine training to incidents entirely unrelated to combat operations. Cherry-picking raw numbers without context paints a deliberately misleading and incomplete picture.'
Trump's confrontation with Iran is spiraling toward a far wider conflict as American deaths climb, with the US unleashing its ninth consecutive wave of strikes.
The President, speaking at Joint Base Andrews on Sunday night after attending the World Cup final, said the US had 'hit them very hard again' in a fresh barrage launched to avenge the fallen soldiers.
Iran hit back on Monday morning, launching explosive-laden suicide drones at critical infrastructure in Kuwait, according to the Kuwaiti military.
Trump earlier called the deaths of the two troops 'a very sad thing.'
The President also told NewsNation on Sunday that he 'couldn't care less' if Iran no longer abides by the peace agreement signed last month.
US Targets Iran's Military Sites
The overnight bombardment pounded Iranian command centers, air defenses, naval assets, coastal surveillance posts and missile, drone and communications sites.
The US is trying to cripple Tehran's ability to menace commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that carries one-fifth of all global oil.
Fighting resumed last week after America accused Iran of violating the Memorandum of Understanding by attacking oil tankers passing through the Persian Gulf.
The US Navy has also hit back at Iranian aggression, reimposing a blockade on all of the regime's ports and seizing several of its ships.
'The US is planning for a wider war,' one American official familiar with the operations told the Washington Post, noting the Pentagon was boosting the number of aircraft in the region.
The official cautioned that the expanded operation would be limited because US stocks of air-defense and long-range weapons are running low, and battle damage was restricting how many extra troops and warplanes can be funneled into the region.
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