Their voice is very loud, and those threats are clearly heard
In the long arc of great power confrontation, Admiral Brad Cooper appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee to account for Operation Epic Fury — a sustained American air campaign that has reshaped Iran's military capacity, destroying the vast majority of its mines, missiles, and naval industry, while leaving unresolved the deeper questions of legal authority, civilian harm, and whether degraded capability truly equals diminished danger. The campaign has achieved its stated military objectives, yet the silence between capability and intent, between a declared ceasefire and an ongoing blockade, reminds us that wars rarely end at the moment they are said to.
- Over 1,450 strikes dismantled roughly 85% of Iran's missile, drone, and naval industrial base — a generational blow to its capacity for conventional military aggression.
- Iran's rhetorical posture remains loud and deliberate, unsettling global shipping and insurance markets even as its physical ability to close the Strait of Hormuz has been dramatically reduced.
- A classified Justice Department legal opinion justifying the war has been withheld from the Senate Armed Services Committee, igniting a constitutional standoff over who holds the authority to wage — and fund — armed conflict.
- Approximately 150 people died when a school was struck at the campaign's outset, and reports of 22 additional school strikes have emerged, yet the military has investigated none of them — a accountability gap senators are pressing to close.
- A ceasefire technically holds, but a U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports and recent exchanges of fire signal that the conflict's embers have not gone cold.
Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command, appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday to deliver a measured verdict on Operation Epic Fury: the campaign had succeeded by most military measures, but the story was not yet over.
The numbers were striking. More than 90 percent of Iran's 8,000 naval mines — weapons capable of strangling the Strait of Hormuz — had been destroyed. Through over 1,450 strikes, the U.S. had degraded roughly 85 percent of Iran's ballistic missile, drone, and naval industrial base. Cooper told senators that Iran's navy would take a generation to rebuild; its missile and drone production, years. Yet he was careful to distinguish between capability and posture. Iran's ability to threaten shipping had been significantly reduced, he said, but its voice remained loud — and that voice alone was enough to rattle the merchant and insurance industries.
The hearing exposed several fault lines. On Iran's remaining ballistic missile stockpile, Cooper disputed reporting that Iran had retained around 70 percent of its launchers, but declined to offer specifics under classification constraints — a gap that left senators uncertain about the true scale of the remaining threat. He also noted that U.S. intelligence had detected a surge in Iranian missile production intent between November and December 2025, a development he described as a key driver of the campaign's objectives.
The constitutional tension in the room was harder to paper over. Senator Tim Kaine pressed Cooper on the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel opinion that had provided the legal foundation for the strikes — a document the Senate had been refused access to. Kaine's frustration was direct: Congress was being asked to authorize $1.5 trillion in defense spending while being denied the legal rationale for the war it was funding. Cooper, a military commander rather than a policymaker, redirected the question.
The human cost of the campaign remained the hearing's most unresolved thread. A school struck at the campaign's beginning had killed approximately 150 people, and U.S. intelligence had suggested American forces were likely responsible, though not through deliberate targeting. Cooper said the investigation was ongoing. When confronted with a New York Times report citing 22 additional school strikes, he said there was no indication the report was accurate — but acknowledged under further questioning that the military had not investigated those incidents. He committed to producing a report on whether schools or hospitals had been destroyed in U.S. strikes, and invited senators to visit CENTCOM headquarters in Tampa to observe how targeting decisions were made. Whether those gestures would satisfy the questions being raised remained an open question.
Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command, sat before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday with a carefully calibrated message: the bombing campaign against Iran had worked, but the work was not finished.
Operation Epic Fury, the name given to the sustained air assault, had achieved what the Pentagon set out to do. More than 90 percent of Iran's stockpile of 8,000 naval mines—weapons designed to choke off the Strait of Hormuz and strangle global commerce—had been destroyed. The campaign's reach was broader still. Through more than 1,450 strikes on weapons-manufacturing facilities, the U.S. military had damaged or destroyed roughly 85 percent of Iran's ballistic missile, drone, and naval industrial base. Cooper told the senators that rebuilding the navy alone would take Iran a generation. Missile and drone production would require years to recover.
Yet even as Cooper laid out these numbers, he acknowledged a harder truth: Iran's capacity to threaten shipping had been degraded, but not eliminated. "The Iranian ability to stop commerce has been dramatically degraded through the straits, but their voice is very loud, and those threats are clearly heard by the merchant industry and the insurance industry," he said. The distinction mattered. Military capability and political messaging were not the same thing. Iran could still hurt, even if it could hurt less.
The admiral's testimony came as a ceasefire, reached on April 7, remained technically in effect, though the U.S. Navy maintained a blockade of Iranian ports and sporadic exchanges of fire had occurred the week prior. When pressed on how long the conflict might continue, Cooper pointed to that ceasefire as evidence that the acute phase had passed. The administration had declared that "hostilities" with Iran had "terminated." But the word "terminated" carried weight only if both sides believed it.
Cooper's account of Iran's remaining ballistic missile inventory drew immediate pushback from senators. He disputed recent reporting that Iran retained about 70 percent of its ballistic missiles and launchers, but he declined to provide specifics, citing classification restrictions. CBS News had reported that Iran held at least half of its ballistic missiles and launchers. The discrepancy mattered because it shaped how Congress understood the threat. Between November and December 2025, Cooper said, U.S. intelligence had detected an increase in Iran's capability and intent to produce more ballistic missiles—a development he called "a very significant risk" and a factor that had driven the objectives of Operation Epic Fury.
The hearing also surfaced a deeper tension between the executive branch and Congress. Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia pressed Cooper on a document the Senate had not been allowed to see: the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel opinion that had justified the president's authority to launch the strikes in the first place. "We're being asked to fund a $1.5 trillion budget, but our request of the DOJ to see the OLC opinion justifying this war—they have refused to allow members of the Armed Services Committee to see it," Kaine said. "If they will not allow us to see the legal rationale for the war, what are they hiding?" Cooper, not a policymaker, deflected the question to those who were.
The human cost of the campaign remained unresolved. A school had been struck at the beginning of the bombing campaign, killing approximately 150 people. CBS News had reported in early March that U.S. intelligence suggested America was "likely" responsible for the attack but had not intentionally targeted the school and may have hit it by mistake. Cooper said the military's investigation was ongoing. When asked about a New York Times report from April indicating that 22 schools had been hit since the conflict began, Cooper said there was no indication the report was accurate. But when pressed further by Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, he acknowledged the military had not investigated those incidents. He committed to producing a report on whether hospitals or schools had been destroyed in U.S. strikes. The admiral said he was "passionate" about preventing civilian harm and invited senators to visit Central Command's headquarters in Tampa to observe how targeting decisions were made. Whether that invitation would be accepted, and whether it would answer the questions being asked, remained to be seen.
Citações Notáveis
The Iranian ability to stop commerce has been dramatically degraded through the straits, but their voice is very loud, and those threats are clearly heard by the merchant industry and the insurance industry.— Admiral Brad Cooper, CENTCOM
We're being asked to fund a $1.5 trillion budget, but our request of the DOJ to see the OLC opinion justifying this war—they have refused to allow members of the Armed Services Committee to see it.— Senator Tim Kaine (D-Virginia)
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
When the admiral says Iran's naval threat has been "dramatically degraded," what does that actually mean for a ship passing through the Strait of Hormuz tomorrow?
It means the risk is lower than it was, but not zero. Iran has fewer mines, fewer drones, fewer missiles to deploy. But they still have some. And they're still talking about using them. The merchant industry and insurance companies are listening to that talk, and it affects how they price risk and route ships.
So the military victory and the political reality are two different things?
Exactly. You can destroy 90 percent of someone's mines and still have them claim they can close a strait. The capability matters, but so does the will to use what's left. And the willingness of others to believe the threat.
Why would the administration declare hostilities "terminated" if the ceasefire is fragile and exchanges of fire happened last week?
Because declaring it over is part of the negotiation. There's a long-term peace deal being worked on. Saying the acute phase is finished creates space for that diplomacy. But it's a declaration, not a fact on the ground.
The senator asked about a legal opinion the Senate hasn't been allowed to see. How unusual is that?
Unusual enough that it bothered him. Congress is being asked to fund the war and support it, but they're not being shown the legal justification for it. That's a real tension. The admiral couldn't answer because he's not the one who made the legal case.
What about the school that was hit? Is that investigation going anywhere?
It's still open. The U.S. likely hit it by mistake, not on purpose. But "likely" and "by mistake" don't bring back 150 people. And there are reports of 22 more schools hit since then. The admiral said he hadn't investigated those. That's the part that sits uneasily.