The US military is broadly targeting Iran’s naval combat capabilities, expanding strikes beyond just warships to mines, drone boats, and torpedoes, the admiral overseeing the Middle East operations said on Monday.
Adm. Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command, reiterated in a video statement that eliminating Iran’s “naval threats” is one of three military objectives of the American strike campaign, which just surpassed the two-week mark.
Cooper shared imagery showing the aftermath of recent US airstrikes on military sites, among which were a naval drone storage facility and buildings used to produce light- and heavy-weight torpedoes.
The US also hit more than 90 military targets on Kharg Island off the coast of Iran over the weekend, destroying storage bunkers for naval mines, among other targets, Cooper said.
Kharg Island is located roughly 300 miles from the strategic Strait of Hormuz and is the centerpiece of Iran’s vast oil sector, handling 90% of its crude exports.
President Donald Trump said last week that the US military operation spared Iranian oil infrastructure at Kharg Island, although he threatened to reconsider if Iran decides to interfere with shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a small body of water between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman that serves as one of the world’s most important naval choke points.
“We’re also zeroed in on dismantling Iran’s decades-old threat to the free flow of commerce through the Strait of Hormuz,” Cooper said Monday. “Through a combination of air, land, and maritime capabilities, we have successfully destroyed over 100 Iranian naval vessels, and we aren’t done.”
The US military said last week that it had damaged or destroyed more than 60 Iranian ships and 30 minelayers since the start of Operation Epic Fury on February 28. Satellite imagery obtained by Business Insider shows several destroyed vessels in Iran’s ports in the early days of the war.
US forces have used MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to sink multiple Iranian ships, including a submarine, Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters on Friday.
The expansion of airstrikes beyond warships reflects the Trump administration’s efforts to restrict Iran’s ability to threaten the Strait of Hormuz and other waterways, where the Iranians are more likely to fight with covert, asymmetrical capabilities than traditional surface combatants.
American and Israeli strikes have killed hundreds of people and wounded thousands more in Iran, while Tehran’s missile and drone attacks have killed dozens in Israel and the Gulf states, according to local health ministries, officials, and media reports.
Meanwhile, at least 13 US service members have been killed, with at least 140 wounded, since the start of combat operations against Iran. The most recent losses were the six crew members who died after their KC-135 refueling aircraft crashed in Iraq on Thursday.
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