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President Donald Trump announced this Sunday that U.S. military forces destroyed and sank nine Iranian warships as part of Operation Epic Fury, according to Axios and Naval News.
The joint military offensive by the U.S. and Israel against Iran was initiated on February 28. Trump announced it through his Truth Social network, and a U.S. defense official confirmed the information.
"I have just been informed that we have destroyed and sunk 9 Iranian Naval Ships, some of them relatively large and important. We are going after the rest — They will soon be floating at the bottom of the sea, also! In a different attack, we largely destroyed their Naval Headquarters. Other than that, their Navy is doing very well!", wrote Trump on Truth Social.
The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) officially confirmed the sinking of at least one of those vessels: a Jamaran-class corvette, also known as Moudge class, which was hit at a pier in the port of Chabahar, located in southeastern Iran. "An Iranian Jamaran-class corvette was struck by US forces during the start of Operation Epic Fury. The ship is currently sinking to the bottom of the Gulf of Oman at a Chah Bahar pier", CENTCOM posted on X.
Declassified images of the attack showed smoke rising from the naval base at Konarak, near Chabahar. CENTCOM ended its statement with two words: "Abandon ship".
The sunken corvette belongs to the Jamaran class, the main surface ship manufactured in Iran. It displaces approximately 1,500 tons, measures 95 meters in length, and has a crew of 140 personnel. It is armed with Noor anti-ship missiles, Sayyad-2 surface-to-air missiles, a 76 mm naval cannon, and torpedoes. Before the operation, the Iranian navy had a fleet of approximately 90 ships, including 25 submarines and several frigates and corvettes of this class.
The Epic Fury Operation has begun on Saturday, February 28 at 1:15 a.m. In its first 24 hours, it reached over 1,000 targets in Iran, including installations of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), air defense systems, missile and drone launch sites, and military airfields.
Israel participated with approximately 200 aircraft, targeting around 500 objectives. The U.S. deployed two carrier strike groups in the region —the USS Abraham Lincoln and the USS Gerald R. Ford— in the largest display of military power in the Middle East in decades. Stealth bombers B-2 struck Iranian ballistic missile facilities with 2,000-pound bombs.
Trump also stated that 48 high-ranking Iranian officials were eliminated during the operation and that the entire military chain of command has disappeared. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, was confirmed dead after an attack on the headquarters complex in Tehran. The Iranian government declared 40 days of mourning. Trump described Khamenei as someone who "had the blood of hundreds, even thousands, of Americans on his hands and was responsible for the massacre of countless thousands of innocent people in many countries."
Iran responded with attacks against U.S. bases in the Middle East and claimed to have hit the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier with four ballistic missiles. CENTCOM unequivocally denied this: "Iran's IRGC claims to have struck USS Abraham Lincoln with ballistic missiles. LIE. The Lincoln was not hit. The missiles launched didn't even come close."
He also added that the Lincoln "continues to launch aircraft in support of CENTCOM's relentless campaign." The confirmed U.S. casualties as of March 1 were three military personnel killed and five seriously injured.
The operation triggered a serious crisis in the Strait of Hormuz. The IRGC issued an emergency radio warning to commercial vessels that the strait was closed. Approximately 20% of the world's oil and nearly half of China's oil imports pass through this maritime route. Financial analysts estimate that a total blockade could double the price of a barrel of oil, from 66 to over 120 dollars. The intelligence firm Skytek reported that around 750 commercial vessels were transiting through the strait on Saturday morning.
Trump supervised the operation from his residence at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, and described its progress as something that is moving ahead of schedule. "Things are evolving in a very positive way right now, a very positive way", he stated.
The president also noted that he had agreed to talk to Iran, although he warned that he will not allow the regime to obtain nuclear weapons. Regarding the possibility of more American casualties, he replied succinctly: "That's the way it is."
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