Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Shares Emergency News: "I'm Not Surprised..."

Air Force Gen. Dan “Raisin'” Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, discussed the progress American forces made against Iran over the past month. This followed President Donald Trump's order for the U.S. military to begin a campaign against the Islamic Republic to destroy its nuclear capabilities.

Caine spoke at a press conference on Wednesday morning after the U.S. and Iran reached a two-week cease-fire deal, which is being widely criticized by several analysts and across the political spectrum.

“We assess that we’ve sunk more than 90 percent of their regular fleet, including all major surface combatants. Around 150 ships are now at the bottom of the ocean.

Half of the IRGC Navy’s small attack boats have also been eliminated, significantly weakening their rapid-response capabilities at sea.

Joint fires projected from land, sea, and air carried out more than 700 coordinated strikes. These operations specifically targeted naval mine infrastructure.

We assess that over 95 percent of their naval mines have been destroyed, effectively neutralizing a major threat to international shipping lanes.

Perhaps most critically, Iran’s defense industrial base has been severely damaged. Their ability to rebuild these capabilities is expected to be limited for years to come.”

“Since the beginning of major combat operations, the United States Joint Forces struck more than 13,000 targets — including…more than 4,000 dynamic targets that emerged on the battlefield and were immediately addressed,” the Joint Chiefs chairman continued.

“CENTCOM forces destroyed approximately 80 percent of Iran’s air defense systems, striking more than 1,500 air defense targets, more than 450 ballistic missile storage facilities, and 800 one-way attack drone storage facilities,” he added.

“All of these systems are gone. We have devastated Iran’s command and control and logistical networks, destroying more than 2,000 command-and-control nodes and degrading their ability to target U.S. and friendly forces,” Caine said.

President Trump told reporters during a press conference on Monday that he gave the order to destroy a newly constructed bridge in Iran after the country’s negotiators reneged on a previous deal to end the conflict.

U.S. forces carried out a strike last Thursday targeting the newly constructed B1 Bridge in the Iranian city of Karaj, according to reports.

The bridge, described as one of the largest infrastructure projects in West Asia and slated to open later this year, was destroyed in the attack. Iranian sources said civilians were gathered nearby marking the final day of Nowruz when the strike occurred.