The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) has categorically denied reports of American military fatalities following Iranian drone strikes in Kuwait, describing the claims as propaganda. In a statement issued on Sunday, CENTCOM said no US personnel were killed or wounded in the region and that the status of all deployed forces had been fully verified. The denial came after Iranian state media, citing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, asserted that three American soldiers were killed during an operation targeting HIMARS launchers in Kuwait, while other Iranian outlets later circulated a Washington Post investigation alleging six US deaths and over thirty wounded at a base in the port of Ash-Shuaiba.

Viewed from Tehran, the strikes were presented as retaliation for what the Iranian army termed continuing American aggression against southern Iran. Official Iranian military communiqués claimed that attack drones had destroyed a Patriot system, an ammunition depot, and a radar site belonging to the “terrorist US Army” in Kuwait, and had separately struck a communications system and radar site in Bahrain. The Iranian army warned that consequences for further insecurity would fall on the “American-Zionist enemy” and threatened harsher responses. The Washington Post report, as described by Russian and Iranian media, alleged that US commanders had ignored intelligence warnings about the vulnerability of the Ash-Shuaiba base and abandoned troops during the attack, with survivors accusing senior officers of betrayal.

Kuwait’s defence ministry confirmed that three northern land border posts had come under “aggressive attack,” causing material damage, and that a hostile drone had targeted a Kuwait Oil Company offshore drilling platform in territorial waters, injuring one worker. The United Arab Emirates defence ministry stated it was dealing with missile attacks, while sirens sounded in Bahrain. CENTCOM maintained that no reports of US deaths or injuries existed, and the US Army, according to the Washington Post account, has concluded its internal investigation with preliminary findings that do not assign disciplinary responsibility to commanders.

The dispute over casualties echoes a pattern observed after Iran’s 2020 missile strike on the Ain al-Asad base in Iraq, when Iranian officials claimed dozens of American dead while no fatalities occurred. The current escalation follows a third round of US strikes on Iranian military sites, announced by CENTCOM on Sunday. The US Army’s investigation into the Ash-Shuaiba incident is expected to conclude shortly, with no indication that its findings will alter the official denial of American losses. Independent verification of casualties remains absent, and the dossier continues to be defined by competing official narratives.