The United States has struck nearly 2,000 targets inside Iran since the start of the war, unleashing one of the largest American military offensives in the Middle East in decades, according to the top U.S. commander in the region.

Adm. Brad Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), said American forces have carried out an intense, round-the-clock bombing campaign aimed at crippling Iran’s military infrastructure.

“We’ve already struck nearly 2,000 targets with more than 2,000 munitions,” Cooper said in a video message. “We have severely degraded Iran’s air defenses and destroyed hundreds of Iran’s ballistic missiles, launchers and drones.”

“The first 24 hours of this operation were nearly double the scale of the first day of shock-and-awe strikes on Iraq in 2003,” Cooper said, adding that American forces are continuing “24/7 strikes into Iran.”

The air campaign has also targeted Iran’s naval forces, dramatically reshaping the balance of power in the Persian Gulf. Cooper said U.S. forces have destroyed 17 Iranian naval vessels, including a submarine. As a result, he said, Iran’s naval presence in the region has effectively collapsed.

“Today, there is not a single Iranian ship underway in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, or Gulf of Oman,” he said.

Despite the heavy damage inflicted on Iranian forces, Tehran has continued launching large-scale retaliatory attacks across the region. According to Cooper, Iran has fired more than 500 ballistic missiles and launched over 2,000 drones targeting American forces, Israel, and U.S.-allied Arab states.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)