Iranian Strike Wounded 8 US Marines, Report Says as US Rejects Ceasefire Offer

By Sharon Zhang

This article was originally published by Truthout

Eight U.S. Marines were reportedly wounded in an Iranian strike in the Strait of Hormuz earlier this month, a new report says as the Trump administration has rejected Iran’s offer for a new ceasefire deal.

U.S. sources told NBC that a cruise missile hit the vessel the Marines were working on on September 14, leading to smoke inhalation and potential traumatic brain injuries, as some of them reported symptoms similar to those with concussions. They returned to duty soon after.

The vessel they were on was not a U.S. Navy ship, with officials only referring to it as a “maritime vessel.” The Marines “were operating as part of a battalion landing team during the Iranian anti-ship cruise missile attack,” NBC reported. The attack has not been publicly disclosed by the Department of Defense.

The report comes after the Pentagon’s latest update to the U.S.’s casualty list amid the war on Iran. Last week, the Pentagon quietly added 37 casualties to its public database. This included the eight Marines as well as 29 Navy sailors, bringing the total number of troops wounded during the war to 861. 

The troops were listed as having been wounded in “Overseas Operations,” the Trump administration’s label for troop injuries since July amid its campaign to downplay the war. The database does not provide explanations for the troop injuries, and the Pentagon did not disclose any attacks that could explain the latest tolls.

The Department of Defense also quietly added one more U.S. fatality last week, bringing the U.S.’s total death toll to 19 people. The latest fatality was an Army member who officials said died from a “medical incident” while on a non-combat flight to Saudi Arabia, in support of the operations related to the Iran war. The report came after The Washington Post reported that the Pentagon is not disclosing four or five additional troop deaths since the start of the war, and that the true toll is 22 or 23 people.

The Pentagon has claimed to be running a successful campaign of escorting oil tankers and other ships through the Strait of Hormuz, while also maintaining a blockade of Iranian ports in the area. Data has shown, however, that the Trump administration’s claims about the strait are not reflected in reality, and that far fewer barrels of oil are making it through the waterway than U.S. officials say. U.S. and Iranian forces have both carried out attacks on vessels in and around the strait.

Iranian forces recently reported that they had captured an unmanned U.S. submarine near the Strait of Hormuz — a vessel that U.S. officials claimed “malfunctioned.”

During the UN General Assembly meeting last week, Iranian officials offered a seven-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz if the U.S. ends the U.S.’s naval blockade, waives sanctions on Iranian oil sales, and enacts a ceasefire that includes Israel’s assault on Lebanon. Iran also offered to resume talks on its nuclear program.

“President [Masoud] Pezeshkian and I did not come to New York to sell a war. We came to forge peace,” said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday. “Iran nonetheless remains steadfast in the face of any aggression — even if it comes to an apocalyptic war. At the same time, we are ready for real diplomacy.”

Despite mounting casualties and an ever-worsening energy crisis spurred by the war, however, President Donald Trump rejected the proposal over the weekend.

On Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump has told aides that, instead, he expects to begin bombing Iran again after the elections this November — contradicting his public statements claiming that he expects the war to end after the midterms.

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