More casualties in the war against Iran: The Trump administration reports 26 new US service members wounded in combat

The Department of Defense reported on Tuesday that an additional 26 members of the U.S. Armed Forces were wounded in combat over the past few months, increasing the number of U.S. service members recorded as casualties in overseas operations. While the Pentagon did not provide specific information on when or where the latest injuries occurred, the cases were recorded in the military casualty database under the category "Overseas Operations," a designation the department has been using since July 7 to track casualties related to U.S. military activities in the Middle East and the war with Iran.

Pentagon figures show that 403 members of the Armed Forces were wounded under the "Overseas Operations" category between July 7 and September 8. The database separately records casualties associated with Operation Epic Fury, the name the military previously used for the war with Iran. That category accounts for 417 wounded service members between February and July.

The update provided by the Pentagon came on the same day that U.S. military forces announced they had destroyed five Iranian oil tankers in retaliation for attempted attacks on a Navy warship. In response, the Iranian regime once again fired missiles at a U.S. base in Jordan.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed in a statement that it attacked four crude oil tankers used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the Gulf of Oman and a fifth vessel near Kharg Island, the epicenter of Iran's oil industry. According to the agency, these ships were part of "a clandestine network worth billions of dollars" that finances the Revolutionary Guard and its regional allies. CENTCOM specified that the offensive came after Iran fired ballistic missiles at a U.S. warship on two occasions within a span of two days.

The attack comes amid a war between Washington and Iran that has not only been ongoing for seven months but also shows no signs of ending anytime soon. Worse still, the armed conflict has been causing numerous economic hardships both in the United States and in many other parts of the world, with numerous experts asserting that the situation could worsen as time goes on and the war drags on without an end in sight.