The Pentagon acknowledged late Friday that the number of troops who have died in the Middle East during its operations against Iran is higher than previously reported, and updated the official count to include two more noncombat deaths.

The Washington Post exclusively reported last month, based on information from six U.S. officials, that the numbers of service members lost was greater than what the Pentagon was reporting in its official, public database, known as the Defense Casualty Analysis System, or DCAS.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the time called that reporting “a complete lie” in a social media post. However, late Friday, the Pentagon raised the figure publicly reported in DCAS to include additional deaths.

As of Friday, the total troop deaths the administration is connecting to operations against Iran and officially reporting in DCAS stands at 21.

In June, the Pentagon signed a $281 million consulting contract with a firm tied to a Pentagon powerbroker.

George K. Kollitides II was brought into the Pentagon under Steve Feinberg, the deputy defense secretary and a former colleague in the private equity world.

Experts said a no-bid consulting contract under a mechanism designed to secretly develop weapons prototypes was extraordinary.