Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee during hearings on force posture in the Middle East and the command’s role in the fiscal year 2027 presidential budget request. Discussions focused heavily on the outcomes of Operation Epic Fury and its impact on Iran’s military capabilities.
“In less than 40 days, Centcom forces achieved our military objectives,” Cooper told lawmakers. “Most notably, we degraded Iran’s ability to project power outside its borders and threaten the region and threaten our interests.”
Cooper said Iran had previously demonstrated the ability to launch large-scale missile attacks, referring to missile barrages directed at Israel in April and October last year. According to his assessment, U.S. military operations have since significantly reduced Tehran’s conventional missile capabilities.
“Today, Iran can no longer attack with that mass and scale,” Cooper said. “And further, with 90% of its defense industrial base destroyed, Iran won’t be able to reconstitute those weapons for years.”
The operation was designed to support the U.S. administration’s stated objective of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, according to officials. Military targets included Iran’s ballistic missile capability, naval assets and defence industrial infrastructure linked to the production of drones and missiles.
“The defense industrial base for their drones and their missiles in their navy were degraded by 90%; they have about 10% left,” Cooper said. “My military assessment would be that the [Iranian] navy will not begin to rebuild for five to 10 years.”
Cooper also stated that Operation Epic Fury disrupted Iranian support networks for armed proxy groups across the region. According to his testimony, groups including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis have been cut off from Iranian weapons supplies and support as a result of the operation.
“This result was not foreordained, nor was it brought by chance,” Cooper said. “It’s the culmination of months of careful planning built upon decades of experience.”
The CENTCOM commander told lawmakers that Iran is currently no longer transferring resources or military equipment to proxy organizations. He also said the operation highlighted the role of U.S. regional partners and strengthened military relationships across the Middle East.
“In terms of our partners, I think a key feature is we have enhanced [military] relationships across the board in the Middle East,” Cooper said. “As we sit here right now, we have five specific partner nations who are not just conceptually side by side, but literally side by side with the United States in defense.”
Cooper identified the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia as key regional partners during the operation. He added that cooperation with Jordan and Israel had also been essential to operational efforts.
“Over the course of Epic Fury, they’ve defended themselves, and they defended Americans,” Cooper said. “In addition to those key allies, everything that we’ve accomplished would have been impossible without the Kingdom of Jordan, and clearly, we were operating very closely with the state of Israel.”
Source: U.S. Department of War.
