WASHINGTON — The US war on Iran has degraded Tehran’s ability to launch or direct another mass atrocity on Israel like the Hamas attack of Oct. 7, 2023, the top officer in charge of the US military in the Middle East testified Tuesday.
Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of US Central Command, told the House Armed Services Committee that Operation Epic Fury, combined with the American strikes on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure last year, set back Iran’s ability to wage war by more than four decades.
“It is my assessment, from a military perspective, is as we sit here today — Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis have been cut off from the decades-long flow of military supplies, thus mitigating and eliminating any chance of a future Oct. 7,” he said.
The war so far has aimed to wipe out Iran’s “three pillars of intimidation and coercion: their nuclear program, their ballistic missiles and drones, and their proxies — especially Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis,” all three of which have been addressed in different ways.
While nuclear is currently being handled through negotiations, Cooper said the military since Feb. 28 has “significantly degraded Iran’s ballistic missiles and drones, while destroying 90% of their defense industrial base, ensuring that Iran cannot reconstitute for years.”
“Iran spent decades and billions of dollars arming proxies. Today, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis are cut off from Iran’s weapons supply and support,” he said. “Said a different way, America, American military action derailed Iran’s strategy that was 47 years in the making.”
