Top US general says ‘air superiority’ established over Iran, confirms Israel was first to strike on Saturday

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine confirms that Israel was the first to strike Iran on Saturday and that the US then followed.

“This was a daylight strike based on a trigger event conducted by the Israeli Defense Forces, enabled by the US intelligence community,” Caine says during a press conference at the Pentagon alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

It is believed that the initial Israeli strike targeted and killed Iran Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, though US President Donald Trump has been taking credit for the strike.

Caine says that the US strikes, dubbed Operation Epic Fury, followed months and years of preparations and came after Trump gave a final “go-order” at 3:38 p.m. eastern time on Friday.

The US army’s cyber units were the first to operate by disrupting Iran’s ability to see what was coming and respond accordingly, Caine says.

One hundred US aircraft began striking Iran in a single wave, and 1,000 targets were hit in the first 24 hours, while Israel launched hundreds of its own strikes, the US army chief adds.

B-2 bunker buster bombers — the same ones used to strike Iran’s nuclear sites last year — also participated in the strikes, Caine confirms.

“This is not a single overnight operation. The military objectives that CENTCOM and the Joint Force have been tasked with will take some time to achieve, and in some cases will be difficult and gritty work,” Caine says. He adds that the United States is still sending additional troops to the Middle East, even after a massive military buildup.

He also says that US forces have now achieved air superiority over Iran.

Strikes by American forces “resulted in the establishment of local air superiority. This air superiority will not only enhance the protection of our forces, but also allow them to continue the work over Iran,” Caine adds.