Iranian ballistic missile attacks down 90% since start of war, says US CENTCOM chief

US Adm. Brad Cooper, who leads US ​forces in the Middle East as the head of Central Command, tells reporters that Iranian ballistic missile attacks have decreased by 90 percent since the first day of the US-Israel war against Iran.

Drone attacks by Iran are down 83%, he adds.

“Having said this, we remain vigilant,” Cooper stresses.

He also says that US attacks on the Iranian navy have “intensified.” According to Cooper, US forces have to date sunk more than 30 of Iran’s ships, including “an Iranian drone carrier ship roughly the size of a World War II aircraft carrier.”

“And as we speak, it’s on fire,” Cooper says.

Additionally, Cooper says US President Donald Trump gave the military “gave us another task: to raze, or level, Iran’s ballistic missile industrial base. So we’re not just hitting what they have, we’re destroying their ability to rebuild.”

Cooper emphasizes that as the operation moves forward, the US will continue to “systemically dismantle Iran’s missile production capability for the future, and that’s absolutely in progress.”

“This is going to take some time, but our forces are well supplied… and we are absolutely ready to prosecute this mission decisively.”

He also says that “we are fighting to win. Through combined US and Israeli combat power, we’ll continue decimating Iran’s ability to project power outside its borders.”

In February, Cooper for the first time joined indirect US-Iran talks in Oman, appearing in his dress uniform as a reminder of the American buildup of military might in the region.