World
US admiral says Iran’s ability to threaten neighbours ‘dramatically degraded’ after US bombings
Admiral Brad Cooper tells Senate Tehran’s defence industry is 'set back by 90%' and arms transfer routes to allies have been cut off
U.S. CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee on "The Posture of the U.S. Central Command and U.S. Africa Command in Review" on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 14, 2026. REUTERS
Washington: Iran’s ability to threaten its neighbours and US interests has been dramatically reduced by US bombings, and Tehran’s defence industry has been set back by 90%, a senior US admiral said on Thursday.
Admiral Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command, highlighted what he described as the tactical successes of the military campaign against Iran that he oversaw, saying the war had significantly reduced the danger posed by Iran to the wider Middle East.
“Iran has a significantly degraded threat, and they no longer threaten regional partners, or the United States, in ways that they were able to do before, across every domain,” Cooper told a US Senate committee.
“They’ve been significantly degraded,” Cooper said. He added that Iran was no longer able to transfer arms and other resources to its main allies in the region: Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and Hamas in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza.
“Those transfer paths and methods have been cut off,” he said.