More than 5,500 targets have been hit in Iran.
U.S. Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper said Wednesday that American forces are systematically dismantling Iran’s military threat as part of the ongoing U.S.–Israel campaign against Tehran’s missile and drone capabilities.
“Iranian forces continue to deliberately target innocent civilians in Gulf countries while hiding behind their own people as they launch attacks from highly populated cities in Iran,” Cooper said in a video update.
The CENTCOM commander said U.S. forces conducting Operation Epic Fury are not only intercepting incoming threats but also striking the infrastructure behind them.
“Of course, forces executing Operation Epic Fury aren’t just defending against Iranian threats,” Cooper said. “We are methodically dismantling them by hitting Iranian missiles and drones as we also strike their defense industrial base.”
Cooper revealed that U.S. bomber aircraft struck a large ballistic missile manufacturing facility overnight, part of a broader effort to cripple Iran’s ability to sustain attacks.
“Just last night, our bomber force hit a large ballistic missile manufacturing facility, as an example,” he said. “So it’s not just about what’s shooting at us today, it’s also about eliminating the threat in the future.”
The comments came as several Gulf states reported new Iranian strikes.
Officials in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates said Wednesday that missile and drone attacks had targeted their territory, raising concerns about the widening scope of the conflict.
Despite the escalation, Cooper said U.S. forces believe they are steadily degrading Tehran’s capabilities.
“We’re on a path to eliminating Iran’s ability to threaten Americans and our friends,” he said. “And we’re achieving this through a combination of lethality, precision, and rapid innovation.”
The admiral also highlighted the Pentagon’s growing use of artificial intelligence tools on the battlefield, saying advanced systems are helping commanders process massive amounts of intelligence in real time.
“First, our warfighters are leveraging a variety of advanced AI tools,” Cooper said. “These systems help us sift through vast amounts of data in seconds, so our leaders can cut through the noise and make smarter decisions faster than the enemy can react.”
He emphasized that AI is assisting — not replacing — human decision-making in combat operations.
“Humans will always make final decisions on what to shoot and what not to shoot, and when to shoot,” Cooper said. “But advanced AI tools can turn processes that used to take hours and sometimes even days into seconds.”
The strikes mark the latest phase of the expanding campaign against Iran’s military infrastructure as U.S. and allied forces seek to neutralize Tehran’s missile and drone arsenal across the region.
Watch the clip above.