At least 200 American soldiers were killed over 3,000 were wounded within the first week of the Iran-US war, Press TV, an outlet affiliated with the Islamic Republic of Iran, reported on Tuesday, citing an Iranian official. Both Iran and the US claim to have dealt a huge blow to each other’s weaponry and military since the start of the war on February 28.
Iran was provided an assessment of American losses, both material and human, by extra-regional sources, the Press TV report said.
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The report was published hours before the US dropped its 5,000-pound ‘buster bombs’ on Iranian missile sites near the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for global oil passage that has been blocked for many ships since the start of the war.
‘Very serious’: Iran on depleting US, Israel arms
The Iranian intelligence official who claimed the number of casualties to the US military reportedly also said that there was significant decrease in the defence stockpile of the US and Israel, a situation he described as “very serious”.
The official told Press TV that over 200 US US military personnel were killed in the first week of the offensive, and further claimed that the US lost 150 missile launch platforms and 23 patriot air defence systems, and 37 aircraft and helicopters were destroyed.
The official reportedly also said that 43% of Washington’s arms stock has been wiped out.
Notably, US President Donald Trump has been making similar claims, saying Iran was nearly obliterated in the US military action. He recently suggested that Iran’s military has been so heavily damaged by US strikes that it would take the country a decade to rebuild.
“Militarily, we’ve essentially–as far as I’m concerned–we’ve essentially defeated Iran. I guess they can have a little bit of a fight back, but not much. Not much. We’ve taken out their air forces, as you know. We’ve taken out their air defence. They have no air defence whatsoever,” he said.
US’s buster bomb move, strikes near Iran nuclear site
As the war rages on, the US has stepped up its attacks on Iran, as it dropped 5,000-pound buster bombs targeting sites along Iran’s coastline near the Strait of Hormuz. The action came days after Trump’s appeal to several US allies to send warships to the strait where international shipping has suffered a setback due to the conflict.
Besides, a projectile also hit an area near the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran but caused no damage or injuries, Iran told the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Iran is also not stepping back from its targeting of US establishments across the Middle East. In what was seen as an attempt to avenge the killing of security chief Ali Larijani, Iran targeted Israel with missiles carrying cluster warheads. Tehran reportedly used Khorramshahr 4 and Qadr missiles, both of which carried multiple warheads.
