US Commerce Secretary apologizes over Iran war deaths remark

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick apologized on Thursday for stating that no Americans had died in the Iran war, acknowledging that 18 service members have been killed and he was thinking about Venezuela when he made the mistaken statement.

"I misspoke. Eighteen members of our military have died, and to those families my heart breaks and I am so very sorry for their loss. I was thinking about the Venezuelan military operation where no service members died," Lutnick said in a post on X.

Lutnick made the comments during an interview with CNBC on Wednesday in which Venezuela did not come up.

"I think the way the president is playing Iran... There haven't been American deaths. It's really just an economic choke-out, which the administration is now executing more broadly, and I think it'll be very effective," Lutnick told CNBC.

Moments before Lutnick's apology, Trump defended the commerce secretary on Truth Social.

"Sec. Lutnick had Venezuela on his mind when he said nobody was killed. 18 people were killed in Iran!" Trump wrote.

To date, the U.S. has reported 18 military personnel killed and more than 750 wounded.

-Reporting by Katharine Jackson; editing by Scott Malone/Reuters