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U.S. Central Command chief: Iran's military 'severely degraded'
U.S. Central Command's Adm. Brad Cooper contradicted recent reports that internal intelligence assessments given to senior U.S. officials showed that Iran retained most of its prewar missile capacity. File Photo by Cristobal Herrera-Ulashkevich/EPA WASHINGTON, May 14 (UPI) -- The war in Iran has "severely degraded" the Iranian regime's military, the commander of U.S. military operations in the Middle East told lawmakers Thursday, flatly rejecting reports that most of Iran's missile stockpiles and launchers remained functional. In his testimony before the Armed Services Committee, U.S. Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of U.S. Central Command, contradicted recent reports that internal intelligence assessments given to senior U.S. officials showed that Iran retained most of its prewar missile capacity. "For 47 years, the Iranian regime has terrorized the region," Cooper said. "In less than 40 days, Central Command achieved our military objectives." Central Command directs military operations in the Middle East, where more than 50,000 U.S. service members await the possible resumption of the war. Central Command also oversees the ongoing naval blockade of Iranian ports. During the six-week war, Central Command forces struck more than 13,000 targets, including legions of Iranian military and intelligence sites. Despite battlefield successes, Cooper's testimony arrived amid heightened bipartisan frustration over the growing cost of the conflict and the United States' inability to extricate itself from it. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., asked Cooper about recent reports estimating that despite six weeks of sustained bombardment, the Iranian regime retained upward of three-quarters of its inventories of mobile launchers and stockpiles of missiles. The estimate, based on a confidential CIA assessment, was first reported by the Washington Post last week. "The numbers I've seen in open source are not accurate," Cooper responded. Central Command's mission was "crystal clear" from the outset, Cooper said, and it had three clearly defined components: wrecking Iran's ballistic missile, drone and naval capabilities. "Each of those systems was significantly degraded," Cooper said. He added that Iran's defense industrial base, which supported each of those levers of military power, had been reduced by 90%. "Iran won't be able to reconstitute those weapons." Cooper conspicuously omitted mentioning that preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon in his list of objec...
U.S. Admiral Says Iranian Capabilities Have Been Dramatically Degraded ...
A senior U.S. admiral stated that sustained strikes have dramatically degraded Iran's ability to conduct large-scale military volleys against its neighbors. Iran retains some retaliatory and asymmetric capabilities but faces constraints in naval, air-defense, and missile-launching power. The assessment signals a near-term reduction in regional risk premiums, though analysts caution against ...
Iran significantly degraded but retains some capabilities, CENTCOM ...
"We have significantly degraded their drone, missile and naval capabilities," Adm. Brad Cooper told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
US admiral says Irans ability to threaten neighbors dramatically degraded
Iran's ability to threaten its neighbors and U.S. interests has been dramatically reduced by U.S. bombings, and Tehran's defense industry has been set back by 90%, a senior U.S. admiral said on Thursday. Admiral Brad Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command, sought to underscore the tactical successes of the military campaign against Iran that he oversaw and said the war had dramatically ...
