Iran’s foreign minister says US toll in war ‘far higher’ than official figures

• Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says US military losses in the war with Iran are higher than publicly disclosed.
• An updated Congressional Research Service report lists 81 US aircraft as reportedly lost or damaged, up from 42 in its May assessment.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says the actual death toll among US troops and the damage to American military assets during the war with Iran are significantly higher than publicly disclosed.

In a post on X on Thursday, Araghchi cited an updated Congressional Research Service (CRS) report that lists 81 US military aircraft as reportedly lost or damaged since the start of US military operations against Iran on February 28.

“In May, the Congressional Research Service admitted that Iran’s Armed Forces had taken out 42 U.S. military aircraft. Now: 81,” Araghchi wrote.

“Real toll is far higher,” he added, questioning the transparency of US military assessments.

The CRS report, updated on October 5, identifies 81 fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft, including drones, that were reportedly lost or damaged during US operations against Iran.

The figure is nearly double the 42 aircraft included in the research service’s earlier May assessment. The updated tally draws on US Defense Department and Central Command statements, media reports and findings from the Defense Department inspector general.

However, the CRS cautioned that the figure should not be interpreted as a tally of aircraft destroyed. It said some damaged aircraft may have returned to active service and that the number remains subject to revision because of continuing combat activity, classification issues and questions over attribution.

The updated list includes 45 MQ-9 Reaper drones, 12 F-15E fighter aircraft, seven KC-135 aerial refueling aircraft, one F-35A fighter, one E-3 Sentry aircraft and several helicopters and other unmanned systems.

Araghchi also pointed to a dispute involving US Senator Chris Murphy, who said the Pentagon denied him access to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar during a recent Middle East visit.

Murphy, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, accused the administration of restricting congressional oversight of the war and said the Pentagon had refused to arrange a briefing for him.

The Pentagon said Murphy had been informed that it would not support his access to the base under a March 3 directive restricting travel to the region, adding that the policy was applied uniformly.

Araghchi cited the episode as evidence of what he described as a lack of transparency over US military losses.

The claims by the Iranian foreign minister regarding the overall death toll among US troops could not be independently verified, while the 81-aircraft figure comes from a US congressional research report that specifically includes both lost and damaged aircraft.