CENTCOM chief: Iran military chiefs ‘in deep bunkers,’ targeting civilians in ‘sign of desperation’; campaign is ‘ahead or on plan’

The head of the US military’s Central Command says Iran is “operating in a sign of desperation” by targeting civilian sites in the war.

In an interview with the Farsi-language satellite network Iran International, US Navy Adm. Brad Cooper says: “They’re operating in a sign of desperation. … In the last couple of weeks, they’ve attacked civilian targets very deliberately, more than 300 times.”

In his first one-on-one interview of the war, Cooper says Iran’s continued attacks on Gulf Arab states and the wider Mideast put civilians at risk.

Cooper also notes the slowdown in Iranian incoming fire across the Mideast as the war has entered its fourth week.

“At the beginning of the conflict, you saw large volumes in the dozens of drones and missiles,” Cooper says. “You no longer see that. It’s all one or two at a time.”

Cooper says the US campaign against Iran is “ahead or on plan.”

He adds that the US and Israel are targeting missile and drone manufacturing sites.

“We’re also going after the manufacturing,” he says. “So it’s not just about the threat today. We’re eliminating the threat of the future, both in terms of the drones, the missiles, as well as the navy.”

Cooper also says it isn’t time for the Iranian public to come to the streets, although both Israel and the US have said they hope the Iranian public will topple the country’s theocracy as a result of the strikes.

“They’re launching missiles and drones from populated areas and you need to stay inside for right now,” Cooper says. “There will be a clear signal at some point, as the president has indicated, for you to be able to come out.”

Cooper says top leaders of Iran’s military are “in deep bunkers” while their frontline troops remain exposed to incoming American and Israeli airstrikes.

Iran International has been a preoccupation of Iran’s theocracy, with authorities repeatedly saying they’ve arrested people who allegedly gave footage to the network.

“I’d like everyone to note is I’ve watched this over the last week, this extraordinary contrast between the comfort and protection that you’re seeing with the senior generals in the Islamic Republic, at least those that are still alive, who are up in deep bunkers and facilities in and around Tehran,” Cooper says.

“And contrast that with the soldiers who are down on the ground who are unprotected. The generals are protected. The soldiers are not protected.”