Tehran, Mar 27:
US forces have hit more than 10,000 targets so far in the Iran war, the head of the American military’s Central Command said.
US Navy Adm. Brad Cooper made the comments in a video released early Thursday by Central Command.
“If you combine what we’ve accomplished with the success of our Israeli ally, together, we have struck thousands more,” Cooper said. “Our precision strikes have overwhelmed Iranian air defences and our combat flights are having tangible effects.”
Cooper added that the US has destroyed 92 per cent of “the Iranian navy’s largest vessels.”
“They’ve now lost the ability to meaningly project naval power and influence around the region and around the world,” Cooper said.
Iran maintains its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, through drone and missile attacks on shipping, however.
Cooper also said the US has struck over two-thirds of Iran’s munitions plants.
“Today, we have damaged or destroyed over two-thirds of Iran’s missile, drone and naval production facilities and shipyards — and we’re not done yet,” he said. “We are on a path to completely eliminate Iran’s wider military manufacturing apparatus.”
Satellite photos analysed by The Associated Press, though delayed by two weeks by Planet Labs PBC, have shown Israeli and US strikes targeting shipyards and missile facilities.
Iran has not acknowledged any of its materiel losses through the war.