Aircraft Carrier USS Lincoln's deployed aircraft in Iran [AP Yonhap News. Provided by the U.S. Navy]

The U.S. military, which has been engaged in combat with Iran for the third day, stated on the 1st (local time) that it had dropped tens of thousands of missiles and bombs and struck over 1,000 targets during the first two days of the operation.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine explained the initial results of the 'Operation Grand Fury' at a briefing held at the Pentagon that day.

According to the briefing, President Donald Trump's approval for the operation was given at 3:38 PM last month on the 27th (U.S. Eastern Time), and simultaneous attacks began at 1:15 AM the following day from U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force units deployed around Iran.

Over 100 fighter jets, bombers, early warning aircraft, refueling aircraft, and drones launched from aircraft carriers and land-based airbases to bomb mainland Iran. Simultaneously, Tomahawk missiles were launched from ships targeting the Navy in southern Iran.

Caine stated that long-range missiles (standoff missiles) were also fired from land-based bases, launched from outside the enemy's anti-air range.

Since the start of the conflict, the U.S. military has attacked Iran's command and control infrastructure, naval forces, ballistic missile bases, and intelligence infrastructure with tens of thousands of munitions over 57 hours.

B-2 bomber [AFP Yonhap News]

B-2 strategic bombers launched from the U.S. mainland also joined in, dropping precision "penetrator munitions" on Iran's underground facilities, he added. The B-2 bomber had previously dropped "bunker busters" on Iran's underground nuclear facilities in June of last year.

Caine stated, "It was a massive, overwhelming attack across all domains, striking over a thousand targets in the first 24 hours."

He predicted that through this, the U.S. military had "established localized air superiority," and that the U.S. military's control of the skies over Iran would "not only enhance the protection of our forces but also allow them to continue operations over Iran."

The U.S. military announced that it has so far deployed thousands of Army, Navy, and Air Force personnel, hundreds of 4th-generation (F-15, F-16, etc.) and 5th-generation (F-22, F-35, etc.) fighter jets, dozens of aerial refueling tankers, and the Lincoln and Ford carrier strike groups, with additional forces being deployed.

Caine said, "General Cooper (Commander of U.S. Central Command, Brad Cooper, who is leading the attack on Iran) will be receiving additional forces today as well."

F-35, a 5th-generation fighter jet [EPA Yonhap News]

Secretary Hegseth stated that the objective of the war is "to prevent Iran from projecting military power abroad" and indicated that "no specific duration will be given" for the operation.

He added that they would "actively eliminate" the "conventional umbrella" that Iran had built for its nuclear development (conventional capabilities such as missiles and navy).

Hegseth stated, "The mission of Operation Grand Fury is to destroy Iran's attack missiles, destroy missile production, destroy their navy and other security-related infrastructure, and ensure they never possess nuclear weapons."

He emphasized, "There are no foolish 'rules of engagement,' no quagmire of nation-building (like in the Iraq War), no democracy-building experiments, and no politically correct wars."

He also said, "This is not a war for so-called regime change," adding, "But clearly, the regime has changed, and the world is better for it."

This appears to be a reference to the death of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei due to attacks by U.S. and Israeli forces.

Secretary Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Caine briefing on the operation [AP Yonhap News]