The U.S. Pentagon announced Wednesday, March 4 that the joint U.S.-Israel military campaign against Iran, code-named “Operation Epic Fury,” has entered its fourth day. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said at a press conference that allied forces now hold near-total control of Iranian airspace and have killed a senior Iranian official previously linked to a plot to assassinate U.S. President Donald Trump.
At the Pentagon briefing on operational progress, Hegseth said the air power deployed in the U.S.-Israel joint bombing campaign is roughly twice the level used during the opening phase of the “Shock and Awe” operation in the 2003 Iraq War.
“Starting last night, in less than a week, the two most powerful air forces in the world will completely control Iran’s airspace. That is uncontested air superiority,” Hegseth said.
“This means we will fly day and night, searching for, fixing on, and ultimately destroying Iran’s missile and defense industrial bases. Iran will be helpless to stop it.”
“They’re finished, and they know it,” Hegseth added. “Or at least they will know it soon.”
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“The Iranian navy is now sleeping on the bottom of the Persian Gulf — combat power gone, heavy losses, completely destroyed.”
He also said Iranian authorities have cut off internet access in an apparent attempt to conceal the damage caused by the air campaign.
“We lost the airspace,” an anonymous former Iranian Air Force officer wrote on social media. “Their planes are circling above us, and we don’t even dare turn on our radar.”
Battle damage statistics
General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, presented updated battlefield statistics at the briefing. According to the figures, allied forces have struck more than 2,000 targets inside Iran.
Naval destruction: More than 20 Iranian naval vessels have been sunk, including a so-called “Soleimani-class” warship torpedoed and sunk by a U.S. submarine near Sri Lanka.
Collapse of counterattack capability: Iran’s ballistic missile launches have fallen by 86 percent compared with the start of the war on Feb. 28, while attack drone launches have dropped by 73 percent. Caine said that as supplies are depleted, Iran’s retaliatory strikes have become increasingly indiscriminate and inaccurate.
Full-domain suppression: Unlike previous limited strikes, “Operation Epic Fury” aims to deliver multi-domain destruction. From Iranian warships torpedoed and sunk in the Persian Gulf to Tehran’s air-defense radar networks disabled by anti-radiation missiles, Iran’s sea-air defense system has been severely degraded within days.
Firepower density: In the first 72 hours of the operation, the volume of precision-guided munitions used by U.S.-Israel forces was roughly twice that deployed during the opening stage of the 2003 Iraq War. The B-21 Raider stealth bomber was deployed in large-scale combat for the first time, operating alongside B-52 and B-1B bombers in strikes across Iran.
Mastermind of presidential assassination eliminated
At the press conference, the Pentagon confirmed the killing of an unnamed senior Iranian official. Although U.S. authorities did not disclose his identity, Israeli media identified him as Rahman Moghadam, head of the special operations division of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
According to reports, the unit he led had been responsible for planning an assassination attempt on Trump during the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Hegseth referenced federal prosecutors’ accusations that Iran had assigned Farhad Shakeri to carry out the operation and had indicated that “money was not an issue,” in retaliation for the 2020 killing of Qassem Soleimani.
“Iran tried to assassinate Trump,” Hegseth said. “But President Trump had the last laugh.”
Follow-up operations
Despite the reported battlefield gains, U.S. military leaders said the operation remains ongoing.
“Operation Epic Fury has three phases: disarmament, destruction of command, and collapse of the regime,” Hegseth said.
“We have just completed the first phase. Iran now lacks an effective navy, air force, and communications capability. They are like a team that doesn’t understand tactics, running blindly on the field.”
“We are accelerating, not slowing down,” he added.
General Caine said that with air superiority established, the U.S. military plans to strike deeper inland targets within the next 24 to 48 hours, focusing on remaining missile launch systems and key infrastructure.
At the same time, the USS Gerald R. Ford and USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike groups are conducting heavy bombardment from the sea, while strategic bombers including the B-2, B-52, and B-1 are coordinating with the Israeli Air Force to expand strikes across Iran.
During the operation, the U.S. military also reached a milestone: its long-range Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) was used in combat for the first time. U.S. Central Command said the weapon provides “unparalleled deep-strike capability” and posted footage of the missile launch on the social media platform X.
The PrSM, the successor to the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), demonstrated significant tactical value in the campaign. Its range exceeds 499 kilometers, and its smaller size allows launch platforms such as HIMARS to carry twice the number of missiles.
Responding to earlier speculation that U.S. ammunition stockpiles might be depleted, Trump publicly denied the claim and ordered emergency measures to replenish supplies. General Caine reiterated the three main objectives of “Operation Epic Fury”: destroying Iran’s ballistic missile systems, eliminating its navy, and preventing the rapid reconstruction of its military capabilities.
“We are serious,” Hegseth said. “Our warfighters have the highest authority personally granted by the president and by me. We will take whatever time is necessary to ensure success.”
By Tian Jingxin
