CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper told lawmakers Thursday that Iran’s military infrastructure and regional terror network have been devastated by the recent American military campaign, saying the U.S. achieved every objective laid out under Operation Epic Fury and effectively severed Tehran’s support pipeline to Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.
Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Cooper described the Islamic Republic as severely weakened after nearly six weeks of sustained combat operations targeting Iran’s military leadership, weapons industry, naval forces, and proxy infrastructure.
“We met every military objective for Epic Fury,” Cooper said, describing Iran’s command-and-control structure as “shattered” while arguing the regime currently lacks the capacity to meaningfully rebuild critical weapons stockpiles.
According to Cooper, approximately 90 percent of Iran’s defense-industrial capabilities were destroyed during the operation, including large portions of its missile production, drone manufacturing, naval infrastructure, and weapons facilities.
“In less than 40 days, CENTCOM forces achieved our military objectives,” Cooper said, arguing the operation crippled Tehran’s ability to “project power outside its borders and threaten the region and our interests.”
Referring to Iran’s large-scale missile and drone assaults against Israel in April and October of 2024, Cooper said Tehran no longer possesses the operational strength necessary to carry out attacks of similar scale.
The CENTCOM commander also dismissed recent public reports claiming Iran preserved much of its missile arsenal and launcher systems during the conflict, stating that widely circulated open-source estimates were inaccurate, though he declined to discuss classified intelligence assessments in detail.
Cooper further testified that American operations had successfully cut off Iran’s ability to supply weapons and logistical support to allied terror groups across the Middle East.
“Today, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis are all completely cut off from Iranian weapons supplies and support from Tehran,” Cooper said.
“This result was not foreordained,” he continued. “It is the culmination of months of precise planning and decades of experience.”
Cooper framed the campaign as a response to decades of Iranian-backed aggression against the United States, noting that Iranian proxy groups conducted more than 350 attacks against American troops and diplomats during the 30 months leading up to Operation Epic Fury.
“For 47 years, the Iranian regime has terrorized the region and made hostility to the United States a core tenant of its rule,” Cooper said.
He also described Iran’s navy as having suffered catastrophic losses, estimating that Tehran could require between five and ten years just to begin rebuilding portions of its maritime capabilities, and potentially an entire generation to restore the force to prewar levels.
As part of the naval campaign, Cooper said U.S. forces conducted more than 700 airstrikes targeting Iran’s naval mine infrastructure, destroying over 90 percent of Tehran’s estimated stockpile of roughly 8,000 sea mines intended for deployment in the Strait of Hormuz.
Despite the extensive damage, Cooper warned lawmakers that Iran still maintains some limited asymmetric warfare capabilities.
“Iran retains nuisance capability — harassment, low-end drone and rocket attacks, and residual proxy support,” Cooper stated in written testimony submitted to lawmakers.
“But it no longer possesses the means to threaten major regional operations or deter U.S. freedom of action in the air or maritime domains.”
Cooper acknowledged that while Iran’s actual ability to block commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has been significantly reduced, Tehran’s threats alone continue to unsettle global shipping lanes, insurers, and oil markets.
“The Iranian ability to stop commerce has been dramatically degraded through the straits,” Cooper said.
“But their voice is very loud, and those threats are clearly heard by the merchant industry and the insurance industry.”
He added that the United States and allied regional militaries remain fully capable of reopening the Strait of Hormuz by force if necessary, though he stressed that policymakers are still prioritizing diplomatic negotiations amid what President Trump recently called a ceasefire on “massive life support.”
Although Iran’s military hierarchy suffered major losses during the conflict, Cooper testified that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps still maintains substantial control within the regime.
When asked whether the IRGC remained dominant following the deaths of several senior commanders, Cooper responded that the organization was still “exercising significant authority.”
Later in the hearing, Cooper agreed with Sen. Tom Cotton’s description of Iran as a “revolutionary terrorist regime.”
“They are,” Cooper responded.
The CENTCOM commander also discussed how the Pentagon altered its drone warfare strategy after months of attacks carried out by Iranian and Houthi drones throughout the region.
“The days of using high-value defenses to shoot down cheap targets are behind us,” Cooper said, arguing the United States had successfully “flipped the cost curve” against Iran’s drone warfare apparatus by forcing Tehran to rely on increasingly sophisticated — and expensive — systems.
According to Cooper, Iran’s drone capabilities have now been reduced to roughly 10 percent of what they were before the conflict began.
Cooper additionally revealed that U.S. forces incorporated numerous anti-drone battlefield tactics developed by Ukrainian forces during their war with Russia.
“We adopted a large number of tactics, techniques and procedures that the Ukrainians have passed us that have helped us defend Americans,” Cooper said.
Although the administration officially declared hostilities with Iran over following the April 7 ceasefire, intermittent clashes and maritime incidents have continued throughout the region while broader diplomatic talks remain stalled.
Earlier this week, President Trump described the fragile ceasefire as being on “massive life support” after dismissing Iran’s latest proposal as “garbage” and “totally unacceptable.”
Trump also warned that if Tehran refuses to comply with American demands regarding its nuclear program and regional activities, the United States would ultimately “finish the job” “peacefully or otherwise.”
{Matzav.com}
