A total of 11 Iranian Navy vessels including its drone carrier have been sunk as part of the ongoing Operation Epic Fury, it has been claimed.
A statement from U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has confirmed its forces have sunk multiple vessels in the opening days of Operation Epic Fury, America’s bid to topple the Iranian regime.
A recent CENTCOM release on social media platform X read: “Two days ago, the Iranian regime had 11 ships in the Gulf of Oman, today they have ZERO. The Iranian regime has harassed and attacked international shipping in the Gulf of Oman for decades. Those days are over.”
This largely tallied with statements made by President Trump himself. At a Medal of Honor ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington DC, Trump said: “We’re annihilating their navy. We’ve knocked out already ten ships. They’re at the bottom of the sea.”
Previous separate CENTCOM statements confirmed that among the targeted Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy vessels was IRIS Shahid Bagheri.
The converted commercial ship had been reconfigured as a platform for launching helicopters and uncrewed systems. Also confirmed as hit was a Jamaran-class corvette, and satellite imagery has revealed IRIS Makran, Iran’s first forward base ship, had been struck while moored at Bandar Abbas.
Few further details about the other vessels have been released, though as per media reports they are thought to include at least two frigates; satellite imagery has shown an Iranian warship burning while moored at a pier at Konarak Naval Base in Chabahar.
America, operating in tandem with Israel, claims to be targeting exclusively military installations, including command and control (C2) centres, the IRGC’s Joint Headquarters and Aerospace Forces Headquarters, air defence systems, ballistic missile and anti-ship missile installations, and Iranian Navy ships and submarines.
Missiles and drones fired in reprisals by Iran have struck military and civilian sites in a number of Middle Eastern countries including Bahrain, Dubai, Kuwait, Iraq, Israel and Qatar.
Two further drones heading for the British RAF base in Akrotiri, Cyprus, have been intercepted following an earlier strike there from an uncrewed system; no casualties were reported.
While not a full participant in the campaign, the U.K. has agreed to allow the U.S. to use British bases in the region for “defensive strikes” aimed at preventing retaliatory attacks.
- You can check the latest Operation Epic Fury updates online via CENTOM’s X account