The top U.S. military commander in the Middle East said American forces have struck nearly 2,000 targets in Iran since the operation against the Islamic Republic began.
Adm. Brad Cooper, head of Central Command, said in a video posted on X Tuesday that the U.S. military has "severely degraded Iran's air defenses" and taken out hundreds of ballistic missiles, launchers and drones.
CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper aid American forces have struck nearly 2,000 targets in Iran since the operation began
(Video: X platform)
The video showed missiles and jets launching from U.S. ships, and targets exploding on the ground.
Cooper noted that Iran has launched over 500 ballistic missiles and more than 2,000 drones in retaliation.
But he said the U.S. is "hunting" Iran's last remaining mobile ballistic missile launchers to eliminate their "lingering launch capability."
Cooper said the operation has involved more than 50,000 troops, 200 fighter jets, two aircraft carriers and bombers, and "more capability is on the way."
"We've just begun," Cooper said.
He revealed that, for the first time, the U.S. also has launched a large number of suicide drones, which "caused a massive result" in the damage they caused in Iran. "I want to emphasize that these drones were originally Iranian-made. We brought them to America, made them better - and fired them back at Iran," he said.
He said that American forces have destroyed 17 Iranian ships and vessels, including one submarine. "It has a hole in its side now," he said. "Now, there is not a single Iranian ship in the Arabian Gulf (another name for the Persian Gulf), in the Strait of Hormuz and in the Gulf of Oman."