Early Saturday, Admiral Brad Cooper, the commander of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), provided a comprehensive update of progress in Operation Epic Fury. Admiral Cooper presented quite a list of targets hit.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Adm. Brad Cooper said Saturday that the Pentagon’s operation in Iran has struck more than 8,000 targets since the start of the Middle East conflict.
In his update, posted to social platform X, Cooper said the campaign has weakened Iran’s combat capabilities and crippled its naval forces. He added that the strikes have successfully targeted Iranian missile sites and attack drones.
“Their navy is not sailing, their tactical fighters are not flying, and they’ve lost the ability to launch missiles and drones at the high rates seen at the beginning of the conflict,” the commander said in a video.
Iran’s navy, we might note, is not sailing, as Iran’s navy has been largely converted into artificial reefs for fish habitat. The few remaining Iranian speedboats are being hunted by the United States Air Force A-10s and Apache attack helicopters. Iran is, however, still launching missiles and drones, but at a reduced rate.
It’s a pretty remarkable list of serviced targets in only three weeks.
The comments come after President Trump signaled Friday that the U.S. is “getting very close” to meeting its objectives in the region.
The Trump administration is working to secure safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, Cooper noted that American forces have struck 130 Iranian vessels as part of the “largest elimination of a navy over a three-week period since World War II.”
Iran has, however, revealed some capabilities we only suspected previously – like having missiles with a much greater range than previously thought.
Read More: Trump: We’re ‘Very Close’ to Achieving Iran Goals, Winding Down Epic Fury
Latest Action Against U.S./U.K. Base Shows Trump Had Justifiable Concern About Iranian Threats
On Friday, President Trump, speaking at a ceremony presenting the Commander-in-Chief trophy to the United States Naval Academy football team, called out the success CENTCOM has made against Iran’s navy in particular.
President Trump: “We’re doing extremely well in Iran. The difference between them and us is they had a navy two weeks ago. They have no navy anymore. It’s all at the bottom of the sea. 58 ships knocked down in two days. We have the greatest navy anywhere in the world.” pic.twitter.com/E9VzQzTV4I
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 20, 2026
The president said:
We’re doing extremely well in Iran. The difference between them and us is, they had a navy, two weeks ago. They have no navy anymore. It’s all at the bottom of the sea. 58 ships knocked down in two days. And we have the greatest navy anywhere in the world, it’s not even close. We are doing very well, we’re not going to let them have nuclear weapons. Because if they had them, they’d use them, are we’re not going to let that happen. It should have been done a long time ago by other presidents.
All of this paints a compelling picture of a remarkable military campaign, extraordinarily well-planned and well-executed. Of course, the United States and Israel already had one major advantage, and it’s the advantage that always wins or loses wars: Logistics. If one of our ships or one of our bombers launches a missile, we have more. When Iran fires a missile or launches a drone, they can’t replace it.
Beans, bullets, and gas. It’s always about beans, bullets, and gas. We simply have more of all of those things.
The coming week may see some interesting news out of Iran. With the theocratic regime on the run and the regime’s military collapsing, the Iranian people have a historic opportunity. Let’s hope they seize the moment.
Editor’s Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.
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