Iran’s ability to strike American forces ‘rapidly declining’ even as US combat power builds up

WASHINGTON, DC: The US military said on Thursday, March 5, that Iran’s ability to strike American forces and regional allies is weakening as the conflict between Iran, the United States and Israel entered its sixth day.

The assessment from United States Central Command came amid ongoing missile and drone exchanges across the Middle East, following joint strikes by the United States and Israel that killed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Despite the US military’s assessment, Iranian officials and commanders have vowed further retaliation as the fighting continues to spread across the region.

US Military says Iran’s strike capabilities are weakening

In a statement posted on social media, United States Central Command said sustained US and Israeli operations were significantly degrading Iran’s ability to retaliate.

“The Iranian regime's ability to impact US forces and regional partners is rapidly declining, while American combat power continues to build,” the command said in the post, which included video clips showing apparent strikes on Iranian military assets.

The conflict began last Saturday, February 28, when the United States and Israel launched coordinated attacks targeting Iran’s leadership, missile infrastructure and nuclear facilities.

The strikes resulted in the death of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and triggered a series of retaliatory missile and drone attacks by Tehran across the region.

Iran launched another wave of missiles on Thursday, March 5, toward Israeli and US military positions across the Middle East.

Israeli authorities said air raid sirens sounded in cities including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem after multiple incoming attacks were detected. Israel’s military also announced fresh strikes inside Iran, targeting fighter aircraft and missile storage facilities in the capital.

On Iranian state television, cleric Abdollah Javadi Amoli delivered one of the few public messages from senior religious figures since the conflict began.

“We are now on the verge of a great test and we must be careful to fully preserve this unity, to fully preserve this alliance,” Amoli said, adding a call for “the shedding of Trump's blood.” 

US rejects reports of fighter jet crash in Iran

 The US military also denied reports circulating online that an American fighter jet had crashed during operations over Iran.

In a post on X, CENTCOM said, “Rumors circulating on social media of a U.S. F-15E crash in Iran early Wednesday are baseless and NOT TRUE.”

The denial followed claims shared earlier on social media by the account OSINTdefender that a F-15E Strike Eagle had crashed during a mission over southwestern Iran.

The post cited a source who suggested Iranian air defenses were responsible for the alleged incident.

According to that claim, US and Israeli combat search and rescue teams later entered Iranian territory and extracted the aircraft’s pilot and weapons systems officer.

The account later posted an update stating that the earlier claim had been removed.

The subsequent message said that during active combat operations involving attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles and drones, US Air Force fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses.