Tomahawk missile launched from a US warship [Provided by US Navy and CENTCOM. AFP = News]On the fourth day of the "Epic Fury" operation, a large-scale military attack against Iran, as of the 3rd (local time), the United States announced achievements including sinking 17 Iranian vessels, including submarines.

Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East, said in a video posted on X (formerly Twitter) on the same day, "We are sinking the entire Iranian navy. So far, we have destroyed 17 Iranian vessels, including our most operational submarines being punctured on the sides."

Cooper emphasized, "For decades, the Iranian regime has harassed international shipping. Today, there are no Iranian vessels sailing in the Arabian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, or the Gulf of Oman."

One of the objectives of this operation stated by the United States was the "annihilation of the Iranian navy." This demonstrated the U.S. intention to prevent Iran from taking military actions such as blockading the Strait of Hormuz, which accounts for about 20% of international oil transport volume.

Iran had threatened to sink all vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for the surprise military operations launched by the United States and Israel.

Cooper also stated, "We are continuously attacking Iran from the seabed to space and cyberspace. In less than 100 hours since the start of the operation, we have already struck over 2,000 targets with more than 2,000 munitions."

He added, "We have severely degraded Iran's air defense capabilities and destroyed hundreds of Iranian ballistic missile launchers and drones. Simply put, we are focused on striking everything that can be fired at us. Our B-2 and B-1 bombers conducted surgical strikes without resistance on numerous missile facilities deep within Iran, and last night, a squadron of B-52 bombers struck ballistic missiles and command and control centers."

He announced, "We will not stop. We will track down Iran's last remaining mobile ballistic missile launchers to eliminate their remaining firing capabilities."

Cooper mentioned that CENTCOM's drone task force, "Scorpion," achieved immense success by launching an unprecedented number of one-time-use attack drones, noting that these drones were originally designed by Iran. "We brought them to the U.S., improved them, and launched them back at Iran. There's no greater pride than seeing our men and women in uniform leveraging innovation to create dilemmas for the enemy," he said.

Regarding the scale of the operation, Cooper described it as "the largest troop buildup in the Middle East in a generation," stating that over 50,000 personnel, 200 fighter jets, two aircraft carriers, and bombers were deployed, with additional forces expected.

He specifically referenced the "Shock and Awe" operation, a massive air assault by U.S.-led coalition forces on Baghdad in 2003, and stated, "The scale of the first 24 hours of this operation was nearly double that of that time."

He also criticized Iran, saying that in retaliation for attacks by the U.S. and Israel, Iran "launched over 500 ballistic missiles and more than 2,000 drones." He added, "To be clear, Iran is indiscriminately targeting civilians while launching missiles and drones."