CENTCOM Confirms Strikes Against Iran Still Active

(MENAFN) The U.S. military confirmed Saturday night that strikes against Iran remain ongoing, as senior officials touted the campaign's scale and a former top commander warned that the next several days would prove decisive.

"CENTCOM is now delivering swift and decisive action as directed," U.S. Central Command said in a post on X, confirming the offensive was still in motion.

In an earlier update issued Saturday afternoon, CENTCOM reported no American casualties and confirmed that no U.S. Navy vessel had sustained a direct hit. "Damage to U.S. installations was minimal and has not impacted operations," the command added.

U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth offered a sweeping characterization of the campaign — formally designated Operation Epic Fury — in remarks Saturday night, describing it as "the most lethal, most complex, and most-precision aerial operation in history."

Hegseth outlined the operation's stated objectives in unambiguous terms. Iran's "missiles will be destroyed, along with Iran's missile production. The Iranian navy will be destroyed. And, as President Trump has said his entire life, Iran will never have a nuclear weapon," he said in a formal statement.

As the strikes pressed forward, a sobering strategic assessment emerged from a former senior military official. General Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., onetime head of U.S. Central Command, told U.S. media outlets Saturday that the next 72 to 96 hours will be crucial in determining whether Iran can sustain a heavy barrage of retaliatory missile strikes against U.S. bases and partners in the Middle East.

The warning underscores the volatile and fluid nature of the conflict, with both offensive operations and Iranian counter-strikes showing no immediate signs of abating.

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