An Iranian cruise missile struck a ship carrying US forces in the Strait of Hormuz, American officials have admitted.
Eight marines suffered concussion and smoke inhalation in the incident earlier this month. They belonged to a battalion landing team, but the purpose of their mission in the strait was not clear.
At the time of the attack on Sep 14, the marines were not on a US navy ship. Sources speaking to US media referred only to a “maritime vessel”.
All eight of them – seven enlisted troops and one officer – returned to duty shortly after the attack, NBC News reported.
It came during a period of relative calm in the war.
Fighting has become limited to attacks on ships attempting to break the Iranian and US blockades, which have remained in place after Donald Trump rejected a fresh deal with Tehran.
Criticism of US casualty reports
Since the Iran war began in late February, the Pentagon has faced controversy over how it labels soldiers killed and wounded.
Following the start of a ceasefire in July, which later collapsed, it reclassified four troops as having been killed in “overseas operations”, rather than in the war codenamed Operation Epic Fury.
The change lowered the operation’s official death toll to 14. A total of 19 soldiers have died, with five labelled under “overseas operations”.
A total of 861 have been wounded, with more than half not listed under Operation Epic Fury.
Critics have pointed to confusion and delays in the release of casualty figures, in contrast to other overseas conflicts where such data have been reported routinely.
Data in the Pentagon’s defence casualty analysis system (DCAS), which tracks deaths and injuries of US soldiers, showed that nine US Marines had been injured in September 2026 in “overseas operations”.
The eight injuries reported by NBC were added to the list last Wednesday – 10 days after the attack.
One official told NBC that the lag occurred because symptoms were not always immediately reported and because the system did not update in real time.
Donald Trump and US officials have repeatedly claimed that the conflict with Tehran was not a war. On Sept 3, JD Vance, the US vice-president, said: “Right now, there is no active shooting.”
The data in DCAS do not provide identities of wounded soldiers or information about the circumstances of their injuries. Spokesmen for US Central Command and the US department of defence declined to comment when approached by NBC.
