(CNN) - Sources told CNN that the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) is slowing the disclosure of troop injuries during the ongoing war on Iran, avoiding publicly confirming the impacts of Iranian attacks, and instead posting statistics on a military website that lags behind events by days or even weeks. Officials justify the delay by citing the need to protect service members.

While US Central Command (CENTCOM), the military headquarters responsible for the war effort, provided regular updates on injuries at the start of the war, it has not regularly reported non-fatal attacks in recent months.

This makes the Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) the primary official source for the number of US injuries in the conflict.

Data in the system reviewed by CNN appears to show a significant lag in updates. A Pentagon official said that "it can take several days or even weeks to document an injury in military systems" due to medical evaluation and review requirements.

However, the official told CNN that the database "is updated regularly."

Since the memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran was signed in mid-June, the Pentagon's Command and Control Support Center recorded one new death as of noon Monday: Navy Commander Gabriel Edwards, a helicopter pilot, was lost in a maritime incident on July 1 in the Arabian Sea.

The system showed 14 new soldiers injured, the same number reported in a Friday update.

Reporting of these injuries appears to occur irregularly and often in batches. One Air Force member's injury was recorded in a database update on July 13, while injuries to 10 soldiers and 3 sailors were recorded in a July 17 update.

After this report was published, the CENTCOM website received a second update dated July 20, recording 4 new soldier deaths and 20 additional injuries.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told CNN that the reporting delay is necessary to protect more than 50,000 US troops deployed in the Middle East.

Parnell said in a statement: "Providing the media with real-time information on non-fatal injuries is akin to providing our adversaries with that information directly, which could put more of our forces at risk simply by receiving that rapid information."

Parnell added that the Pentagon and CENTCOM "continuously provide comprehensive updates to the world on US strikes and operations in Iran," noting that public statements and social media posts by US President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth provide "a clear and unvarnished view of our decisive objectives and actions."

On Friday, an Iranian rocket attack on the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan killed two US soldiers and left another missing. A third soldier was killed in northern Iraq during a controlled detonation of a downed Iranian drone.

An unknown number of soldiers were injured in the recent attacks in the region. CENTCOM disclosed one soldier injured in the Iraq incident, four soldiers treated and discharged from Jordanian hospitals after the air base attack, and an undisclosed number of other personnel who underwent medical checks for minor injuries returned to duty.

A US administration official said that the soldiers' remains would be transferred in a dignified ceremony on Wednesday. The official told CNN that four soldiers would be transported to Dover Air Force Base.

On Monday, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said that Trump was expected to attend the dignified transfer ceremony on Tuesday, but later announced its postponement.