Four American service members killed this past weekend disappeared from the Pentagon's official Iran war death toll in the space of a single day. The count dropped from 18 to 14, according to the Defense Casualty Analysis System, the department's official casualty database.
CNBC reported the change after the New York Times first broke the story. Three military officials told the Times that the four service members removed from the count were killed after President Donald Trump declared a ceasefire in April. Three died in Jordan and one in northern Iraq. All 14 deaths still listed on the database as of Thursday occurred in March.
The acting Pentagon press secretary, Joel Valdez, attributed the change to what he called "temporary data disruptions" on the casualty website, telling the Times the issue would be fixed quickly. The Pentagon and the State Department did not immediately respond to CNBC's requests for comment.
Seven of the 14 remaining deaths in the database are classified as hostile.
Trump himself used the higher number 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."
That statement directly contradicted the number his own department's database was showing at the same time.
Rep. Adam Smith, Democrat of Washington, said on Monday that the administration has not shared Iran war casualty data with Congress. "There has been no transparency from the President or the Pentagon about the full extent of equipment losses and casualty statistics," he said.
The Pentagon has held no major briefing on the war since early May, shortly after the ceasefire that has since collapsed. The revision to the death toll came as scrutiny of the administration's casualty reporting has grown in Congress and in the press.
