Another US military service member has died from wounds sustained during Iran's initial counter-attack a week ago, bringing the number of US troops killed in action so far in the war with Iran to seven, the US military said on Sunday.
"Last night, a U.S. service member passed away from injuries received during the Iranian regime’s initial attacks across the Middle East. The service member was seriously wounded at the scene of an attack on US troops in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on March 1," US Central Command said in a statement.
It said the service member's identity will be withheld until 24 hours after the next of kin is notified.
National Guard soldier dies in 'health-related incident during medical emergency'
Later on Sunday, CENTCOM announced that a further soldier died from a "health-related incident in Kuwait on March 6 during a medical emergency."
According to the statement, the cause of death of this soldier, who served in the National Guard, is under review, referring to the National Guard for further announcements on the incident.
Both incidents follow the deaths of six US Army Reserve soldiers from an Iranian drone strike in Kuwait.
'Lies, deception': US CENTCOM denies claims that Iran captured US soldiers
CENTCOM on Saturday denied Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani's claim on X/Twitter that Iran had captured several US soldiers.
“The Iranian regime’s claims of capturing American soldiers are yet another example of its lies and deceptions,” a CENTCOM spokesman told Al Jazeera Arabic.
In his post, Larijani claimed that several US soldiers had been captured during Operation Epic Fury, alleging that Washington reported them instead as killed in order to conceal the incident.
"It has been reported to me that several American soldiers have been taken prisoner," Larijani wrote. "But the Americans claim that they have been killed in action."
"Despite their futile efforts, the truth is not something they can hide for too long."
Lara Sukster Mosheyof and Aaron Glick contributed to this report.