Washington. Senior US military officials said on Wednesday that US and allied forces have significantly weakened Iran’s military capabilities in the first four days of the ongoing conflict. There has been a huge reduction in the missiles being fired by Iran and American forces have increased their attacks deep inside Iran.
Speaking at a press briefing at the Pentagon, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said Operation Epic Fury had already caused significant damage to Iran’s military infrastructure. He said, ‘Today I stand before you with a clear message regarding Operation Epic Fury. America is winning decisively, destructively and ruthlessly. This campaign started early Saturday on the direct orders of President Donald Trump and is still in its initial stages.
Hegseth said that the first thing is that only four days have passed since this campaign started. The figures are changing, the situation is normalizing and more troops are arriving. Secondly, this campaign has been launched for only four days and the results have been incredible, truly historic.
General Dan Kane, chairman of the Air Force Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the United States has already struck more than 2,000 targets in Iran. As of this morning, US Central Command continues to make progress. Kane said the number of ballistic missiles fired by Iran had dropped by 86 percent compared to the first day of the fighting, with a 23 percent drop in the last 24 hours alone. There has also been a huge decline in Iran’s drone attacks.
He said that their unilateral attack drone launches have reduced by 73 percent as compared to the initial days. According to the Pentagon, the campaign focuses on three main objectives: destroying Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities, disabling its navy and preventing Tehran from rebuilding its military power.
He said that first, we are targeting and destroying Iran’s ballistic missile systems. Kane said that second, we are destroying the Iranian navy. Third, we are ensuring that Iran cannot rapidly rebuild or reconstitute its combat capability.
The general said the US military has already destroyed more than 20 Iranian naval vessels, including a submarine, significantly weakening Iran’s naval presence in the war zone. The Pentagon also mentioned a rare naval action that took place during the conflict. Kane said that for the first time since 1945, a US Navy fast attack submarine has sunk an enemy warship using a single Mark 48 torpedo.
The Pentagon also confirmed that six US soldiers were killed in the early stages of the conflict. Ken named four of them. Kane said that Captain Cody Cork, Sergeant First Class Noah Teigens, Sergeant First Class Nicole Amor and Sergeant Declan Cody were martyred. All of them belonged to the 103rd Sustainment Command of the US Army Reserve. Ken said that today we join in mourning with the families of our martyred soldiers.
US officials said several regional allies were taking part in defensive operations against Iranian attacks. Kane said Jordan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait have intercepted drones and missiles targeting civilian infrastructure across the region. Despite early successes, both officials stressed that the conflict remains dangerous and uncertain.
Ken said that 100 hours have passed. This is just the beginning. These operations are complex, dangerous and far from over. The United States launched Operation Epic Fury after months of escalating tensions with Iran over missile attacks and Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. Washington has repeatedly said that the aim of this campaign is to destroy Iran’s missile and military infrastructure and prevent it from developing nuclear weapons.
