War with Iran expands across region; U.S. expects more casualties
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War with Iran expands across region; U.S. expects more casualties
Washington Post-March2nd2026
The U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran and wide-scale Iranian reprisals expanded Monday as the United States pledged to send more troops to the region. The U.S. military expects to endure additional casualties in its operation, Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine said in a rare on-camera news briefing, adding that accomplishing objectives will take “some time” and, “in some cases, will be difficult and gritty work.” The briefing, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, came after U.S. Central Command reported that a fourth U.S. service member had died of injuries suffered in Iran’s initial retaliatory salvos over the weekend. Earlier Monday, Centcom said that three U.S. fighter jets were mistakenly shot down overnight by Kuwaiti amid active combat but that all six crew members safely ejected. As the war entered its third day, Iran continued its attacks on several Persian Gulf states. Lebanon’s Hezbollah responded to the killing of Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei with rocket and drone attacks on Israel, prompting Israeli strikes in the suburbs of Beirut and other strongholds of the Iran-allied group.
What to know
- U.S. fighter jets downed: Three U.S. F-15E Strike Eagles went down late Sunday over Kuwait after being fired upon mistakenly by that country’s air defenses, U.S. Central Command said. All six crew members “ejected safely,” were recovered and were in stable condition.
- Hegseth speaks: “We didn’t start this war, but under President Trump we are finishing it,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said days after Trump called upon Iranians to bring down a government weakened by U.S. strikes. Hegseth insisted in a press briefing that “this is not a so-called regime change war” or another “endless war,” but he would not set a time frame or rule out ground troops to complete American objectives of crushing Iran’s military power and ending its nuclear program, saying that “our ambitions are not utopian; they are realistic.”
- Israel strikes back at Hezbollah: The conflict zone expanded into Lebanon after Hezbollah initiated a rocket and drone attack on Israel. Israel struck the group’s stronghold in Beirut and targeted weapons storage facilities and other infrastructure, the Israeli military said.
- U.S. service members killed: Another U.S. service member died Monday of injuries suffered in the initial Iranian attacks, U.S. Central Command said, bringing to four the total number of American forces killed. Two U.S. officials had told The Washington Post that the three previous fatalities were members of a sustainment unit in Kuwait.
- Interim leadership in Iran: Iran announced Sunday that an interim leadership council was in place after the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Iran faces an opaque, fraught process — one complicated by the deaths of many senior officials in the initial attack and the ongoing war — to select a new leader.
- Iran reports more than 500 dead: Iran’s state broadcaster reported 555 killed in the ongoing airstrikes by the United States and Israel, citing figures from the Iranian Red Crescent Society. The Post could not independently verify the toll.
- Strikes across the region: In addition to Israel, eight other countries have reported attacks by Iran: Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
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