Washington DC [US], March 19 (ANI): The Pentagon on Thursday stated that the US military has deployed 5,000 pounds of penetrator weapons on underground Iranian storage facilities and struck over 7,000 targets across Iran as part of Operation Epic Fury.

Addressing a press briefing, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, said the strikes targeted underground storage facilities housing coastal defence cruise missiles, naval ammunition depots, mine storage sites, and afloat assets, including more than 120 vessels and 44 minelayers.

'We're flying further to the east now and penetrating deeper into Iranian airspace to hunt and kill one-way attack garrisons, destroying Iran's ability to project power outside of its borders,' he said.

At the briefing, General Caine was accompanied by the US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, during which the secretary added that the strikes have caused significant damage to Iran's military infrastructure.

Hegseth highlighted that Iran's ability to manufacture new ballistic missiles has been severely impacted, with ballistic missile attacks against US forces down 90 per cent since the start of the conflict.

'To date, we've struck over 7,000 targets across Iran and its military infrastructure. That is not incremental. That is an overwhelming force applied with precision. And again, today will be the largest strike package yet, just like yesterday was. As I've said from day one, our capabilities continue to build. Iran continues to degrade. We're hunting and striking, bringing death and destruction from above. Iran's air defence is flattened. Iran's defence industrial base, the factories, and the production lines that feed their missile and drone programs, are being overwhelmingly destroyed,' Hegseth said.

'We've hit hundreds of their defence industrial bases directly. Their ability to manufacture new ballistic missiles has probably taken the hardest hit of all. Ballistic missile attacks against our forces, down 90 per cent since the start of the conflict,' he added.

He also claimed the destruction of Iranian UAVs and naval assets, stating that over 120 ships have been damaged or sunk, and Iran's submarines, once numbering 11, are no longer operational.

'The last job anyone in the world wants right now...? Their military ports are crippled,' he said, emphasising the scope and precision of US operations.

The development comes amid the escalating tensions and conflict that began on February 28 with the killing of 86-year-old Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in joint military strikes by the US and Israel, after which Iran, in its retaliation, targeted Israeli and US assets in several Gulf countries and Israel, causing disruption in the waterway and affecting international energy markets and global economic stability.

Due to the conflict in the region, Iran has virtually closed the Strait of Hormuz, a critical transit route for global energy supply.

Following the death of Ali Khamenei, Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the former leader, was appointed as the new Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. (ANI)