U.S. Central Command Commander Adm. Brad Cooper said Wednesday that Iranian forces are continuing to target civilians across the Gulf while launching attacks from densely populated areas inside Iran, as American forces intensify operations against the regime.

“Iranian forces continue to deliberately target innocent civilians in Gulf countries while hiding behind their own people as they launch attacks from highly populated cities in Iran,” Cooper said in a video update.

Cooper said U.S. forces conducting Operation Epic Fury are not only defending against incoming threats but are also systematically dismantling Iran’s military capabilities.

“Of course, forces executing Operation Epic Fury aren’t just defending against Iranian threats. We are methodically dismantling them by hitting Iranian missiles and drones as we also strike their defense industrial base,” Cooper said. “Just last night, our bomber force hit a large ballistic missile manufacturing facility as an example. So it’s not just about what’s shooting at us today, it’s also about eliminating the threat in the future.”

His remarks came as Gulf countries including Qatar and the United Arab Emirates reported new missile and drone attacks Wednesday.

Cooper said the U.S. campaign is steadily weakening Iran’s military capabilities.

“We’re on a path to eliminating Iran’s ability to threaten Americans and our friends. And we’re achieving this through a combination of lethality, precision, and rapid innovation,” he said.

He revealed that U.S. forces are increasingly incorporating advanced artificial intelligence systems to accelerate battlefield decision-making.

“First, our warfighters are leveraging a variety of advanced AI tools. These systems help us sift through vast amounts of data in seconds, so our leaders can cut through the noise and make smarter decisions faster than the enemy can react,” Cooper said. “Humans will always make final decisions on what to shoot and what not to shoot, and when to shoot. But advanced AI tools can turn processes that used to take hours and sometimes even days into seconds.”

Cooper also announced that U.S. forces have destroyed the last remaining Soleimani-class warship operated by Iran.

“American forces operating in the Middle East have taken out ‘the last of four Soleimani-class warships — that’s an entire class of Iranian ships now out of the fight,’” Cooper said.

According to Cooper, the scale of U.S. operations inside Iran has continued to expand significantly.

“To date, we have struck more than 5,500 targets inside Iran, including more than 60 ships using a variety of precision weapons systems. Just yesterday, we had strike waves nearly every hours from different locations and directions going into Iran,” he said.

“U.S. combat power is building, Iranian combat power is declining,” Cooper added. “Every day we are striking hard at Iranian ballistic missiles and drones.”

He also praised the performance of American forces involved in the campaign.

“The entire team is performing superbly. Strike operations from our Joint Force continue as I’ve said. I assess that we are clearly exercising air superiority over vast swaths of Iran,” Cooper said.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)