One war, but two sets of statistics? U.S. sparks controversy over splitting Iran war casualty figures

[Financial News] The U.S. military is drawing controversy for separately tallying the number of fatalities from the Iran war based on when the previous memorandum of understanding (MOU) was scrapped. The Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC), which falls under the U.S. Department of Defense, publishes a database of U.S. military fatalities and injuries by major overseas wars and operations since World War I (WWI).
According to the DMDC database on the 27th (local time), U.S. military fatalities from "Operation Epic Fury," which began on Feb. 28, stood at 14, with 417 injured. U.S. media outlets raised suspicions of an intentional downplaying, saying that four deaths at U.S. bases in Jordan and Iraq were left out. Those four were listed instead under a separate "overseas operations" category. The count of deaths and injuries was based on July 7, when the MOU signed by the U.S. and Iran last month was effectively voided and the U.S. resumed airstrikes.
It is not clear whether "overseas operations" refers only to clashes with Iran. The death toll is four, and the number of injured is 207, which differs from the figures the U.S. military has released so far, which were below 100.
In this regard, the U.S. Department of Defense's official position is that "Operation Epic Fury ended under the April ceasefire with Iran, and the recently resumed clashes with Iran are part of a new war." The New York Times (NYT) noted that Donald Trump has also argued that the recently resumed fighting is not "a mere extension of the war that began in February with Israel," but rather "a new conflict with Iran."
In this situation, Associated Press (AP) criticized the Defense Department for posting separate casualty figures for overseas operations, saying that "questions are being raised about whether the injuries suffered by U.S. service members in the Iran war are being properly counted." Some say that Trump and the U.S. Department of Defense have made it harder to grasp the death and injury toll from the Iran war at a glance because they are mindful of the political burden.
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