US: Stealth B-2 bomber strikes Iranian missile launchers with 1-ton bombs

Washington — The United States’ B-2 stealth bombers dropped dozens of penetrator bombs weighing nearly one tonne to target buried ballistic missile launchers in Iran, said Admiral Brad Cooper, Commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM). In a press briefing at the Pentagon on Thursday 5 March, Cooper said US bomber forces had struck almost 200 targets across Iran in the last 72 hours, including near the capital Tehran. He added that US military operations against Iran’s naval forces were also being stepped up. ‘Not long ago, you may have heard President [Donald Trump] say we sank 24 ships. That was true at the time. Now the figure has surpassed 30 ships,’ Cooper said. He also noted that Iranian attacks had fallen significantly. Since the start of the military operation, Iran’s ballistic missile attacks have fallen by 90 percent and drone attacks by 83 percent. Tensions in the Middle East have risen after the US and Israel launched air strikes against Iran from 28 February, which were reported to have killed more than 900 people, including Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and at least 165 schoolgirls. Iran then retaliated by launching drone and missile attacks targeting locations linked to the US in Gulf states. Late last weekend, a drone attack in Kuwait killed six US military personnel at a tactical operations centre.