TEHERAN/WASHINGTON/RIYADH/KUWAIT CITY/JERUSALEM – Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) released figures on US casualties during the first two days of what it described as retaliatory strikes, with the numbers differing significantly from those announced by the United States, reported local media on Tuesday.
An IRGC spokesperson said up to 650 US soldiers were killed or wounded during the first two days of the retaliation. The spokesperson said IRGC missiles and drones struck the headquarters of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain multiple times, and that attacks on US military bases in Bahrain resulted in 160 US casualties.
The US military said that as of 4 pm Monday (2100 GMT), six US service members had been killed in military operations against Iran. US media reported that 18 additional troops were seriously wounded. US officials said there have been no fatalities at US military bases in Bahrain.
The IRGC spokesperson also said a US combat support ship was heavily damaged by IRGC missiles, reiterating that four cruise missiles were fired at the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, which then “fled” southeast toward the Indian Ocean.
Earlier, US Central Command formally denied claims from the IRGC that they had struck the USS Abraham Lincoln with missiles, labeling the Iranian assertions as “disinformation” and a “lie,” adding that the missiles launched by Iran “didn’t even come close.”
The claims by both sides could not be independently verified.
US airbase in Bahrain hit
Iran had carried out a “large-scale drone and missile attack” targeting a US air base in Bahrain, its official IRNA news agency said on Tuesday.
Iran’s IRGC launched “a large-scale drone and missile attack at dawn on the US air base in the Sheikh Isa area of Bahrain,” IRNA said in a post on Telegram.
Meanwhile, the US embassy in Riyadh confirmed it was hit by an attack, adding it would be closed on Tuesday.
The US State Department said on Tuesday it has ordered the departure of non-emergency US government personnel and family members from Bahrain, Iraq and Jordan.
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that the US military campaign against Iran has the “capability to go far longer” than the four to five weeks he projected during media interviews one day earlier.
“We have capability to go far longer than that. We’ll do it,” Trump said at an event in the White House, referring to his earlier remarks that the attacks may last four to five weeks.
“I don’t get bored. There’s nothing boring about this,” Trump said amid the war across the Middle East region.
Trump on Monday defended the attacks on Iran as “very necessary and important”, slamming Democrats for “complaining bitterly”.
“The Radical Left Democrats, a Party that has completely lost its way, are complaining bitterly about the very necessary and important attack, by the United States and Israel, on Iran,” Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted Saturday and Sunday found that some 43 percent of US citizens disapproved of the strikes and just 27 percent approved.
Also on Monday, Trump said that he is not ruling out sending US ground troops into Iran if necessary.
“I don’t have the yips with respect to boots on the ground — like every president says, ‘There will be no boots on the ground,’ I don’t say it,” Trump told New York Post in an interview.
“I say ‘probably don’t need them,’ (or) ‘if they were necessary,'” he said.
At least 555 people have been killed in US and Israeli strikes against Iran since Saturday morning, the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) said on Monday.
In a statement published on its official website, the IRCS noted that 131 Iranian counties were targeted in the strikes.
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Iran ‘prepared for long war’
Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Larijani said on Monday the country is prepared for a long war.
“Iran, unlike the United States, has prepared itself for a long war,” Larijani said in a post on social media platform X.
Larijani also stressed on Monday that the country will not negotiate with the United States.
Meanwhile, Iran’s IRGC said on Monday its missile strikes targeted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office and the place of stay of Commander of the Israeli Air Force Tomer Bar.
In a statement published on its official news outlet Sepah News, the IRGC said the “targeted and surprise” attacks were carried out using homegrown Kheibar ballistic missiles.
Also on Monday, IRGC said it launched 26 drones and five ballistic missiles at US military targets in Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, and the Strait of Hormuz.
Safety risks
The US Department of State on Monday urged Americans to depart immediately from the Middle East “due to serious safety risks.”
Also on Monday, the US Central Command announced the death of two additional US service members in the attacks against Iran, bringing the total number to six.
It also announced on Monday that three US F-15 Eagle Strike fighter jets crashed over Kuwait after being hit by “friendly fire”, while Iran’s armed forces said it shot down one.
Intelligence headquarters in Teheran
The Israeli military said on Monday night it completed a wave of strikes in the heart of Teheran targeting the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and the Basij headquarters, on the third day of the US-Israel joint operation against the Islamic republic.
The Israeli military said early Tuesday that it has bombed Iran’s communications center with dozens of munitions and “destroyed” it.