President Trump: Tehran’s forces largely “knocked out”

thebesig | March 4, 2026 | 30 Comments

President Donald Trump said that Tehran’s forces have largely been knocked out. Reports indicate that 17 Iranian ships were destroyed and nearly 2,000 targets hit. Admiral Brad Cooper, Commander for U.S. Central Command provided an update on X and declared that Iranian naval activity has been halted along the most critical waterways. Cooper further said that there were no operating Iranian ship in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman.

From Newsmax:

The U.S. military has destroyed 17 Iranian ships, including a submarine, and struck nearly 2,000 targets in Iran in the opening phase of President Donald Trump’s campaign against Tehran.

The tally came from U.S. Central Command Cmdr. Brad Cooper, Reuters reported.

Cooper said in a video posted to X that Iranian naval operations have effectively been halted across the region’s most critical waterways.

“Today, there is not a single Iranian ship underway in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, or Gulf of Oman,” Cooper said in the video.

The figures underscore the scale of the U.S. offensive ordered by Trump, which administration officials have framed as a direct effort to dismantle the regime’s ability to threaten Americans, Israel and U.S. partners across the Middle East.

CENTCOM has said publicly that the operation is targeting Iranian command-and-control nodes, air defenses, missile and drone launch infrastructure and other military facilities tied to attacks on U.S. forces and allies.

Stars and Stripes reported that U.S. forces used a wide mix of aircraft, ships, missiles and drones in the opening days of the operation and had already surpassed 1,000 strikes early in the campaign as the target list expanded.

President Trump has argued the pace and breadth of the strikes have crippled Tehran’s ability to fight, saying Iran’s military has effectively been “knocked out” and that key systems including its navy, air force, radar network and air defenses have been neutralized, according to reporting by Time.

Military Times and Axios also reported that Trump said U.S. forces destroyed nine Iranian naval ships and that Iran’s naval headquarters had been “largely destroyed,” as he pointed to the naval campaign as evidence the regime is rapidly losing its ability to project power in the region.

Additional Reading:

Newsmax Wires. (2026, March 3). US sinks 17 ships, hits 2K targets; Trump says Tehran forces largely knocked out. Newsmax.com. Link.