WASHINGTON, March 3 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said Tuesday that U.S. forces have destroyed 17 Iranian ships, sinking the entire Iranian navy.

"Many of you may remember the shock and awe strikes of 2003. The first 24 hours of this operation were nearly double the scale, and we continue with 24/7 strikes into Iran, from seabed to space and cyberspace," Brad Cooper, commander of CENTCOM, said in a video posted on the social platform X.

"Now we're less than 100 hours into this operation, and we've already struck nearly 2,000 targets with more than 2,000 munitions. We have severely degraded Iran's air defenses and destroyed hundreds of Iran's ballistic missiles, launchers and drones," said Cooper.

"We are also sinking the Iranian Navy, the entire navy. Thus far, we've destroyed 17 Iranian ships, including the most operational Iranian submarine that now has a hole in its side," he said.

CENTCOM also said that the Iranian side has launched over 500 ballistic missiles and over 2,000 drones since the start of U.S.-Israeli strikes. ■