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Lutnick death-toll gaffe
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick apologized on Thursday after saying on CNBC that there had been no American deaths in the ongoing war with Iran, a claim President Donald Trump later defended on Truth Social.
“"I misspoke. Eighteen members of our military have died"”
Reuters reported that Lutnick acknowledged that 18 service members have been killed and said he was thinking about Venezuela when he made the mistaken statement.
In the CNBC interview, Lutnick had said, "there haven't been American deaths," while touting an "economic choke out" of Iran.
Trump then posted on Truth Social that "Sec. Lutnick had Venezuela on his mind when he said nobody was killed. 18 people were killed in Iran!"
Iran retaliates and warns
As the war entered its seventh month, Reuters reported that Iran warned the United States it would respond forcefully to an Israeli offensive on the Ali al-Taher ridge in southern Lebanon where Iranian military personnel were holed up alongside Hezbollah fighters.
The Business Standard, citing Reuters, said Tehran threatened that any full-fledged Israeli offensive on the ridge would be met with a "large-scale Iranian attack," and described the message as delivered last month via Oman.
Reuters also reported that Iranian mourners carried caskets on Thursday at a funeral for victims of a U.S. airstrike said to have struck a wedding party near the village of Kuhestak in Sirik County.
In that Reuters account, Tehran launched missiles and drones overnight at a U.S. base in Kuwait after the war's biggest escalation in more than a month, and Kuwait's military said its air defences had intercepted missiles and drones.
Casualties, benefits, and scrutiny
The Jerusalem Post reported that Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency said six more military personnel died from U.S. strikes this week, bringing Iran's military death toll to at least 13.
“bringing the military death toll to at least 13”
In a separate Reuters report, Iranian officials said four people died and nearly 70 were wounded by a strike that hit a home during a wedding, while the U.S. military said it was aware of the Iranian reports but "never targets civilians".
Meanwhile, CNN reported that Lutnick apologized after falsely asserting that no Americans had died, and said he wrote that he "misspoke" and had confused the six-month war in Iran with the administration's prior hours-long invasion of Venezuela.
The Military section reported that the widow of U.S. Air Force Major John "Alex" Klinner, Libby Klinner, claimed she was denied some benefits, writing, "The Air Force recently told me that because we haven't officially declared war, my kids and I aren't eligible for some benefits," as the war had exceeded the six-month mark and the Department of Defense reported 18 deaths and 757 wounded.