US braces for intensified strikes on Iran within 24 hours — CNN
Photo: The US will now destroy missile and drone depots and military fleets (facebook.com/USNavy1)
The United States is preparing for a significant escalation of attacks on Iran within the next 24 hours, CNN reports.
Read also: Pentagon chief on "47 long years" war with Iran: We didn't start it, but we're finishing it
According to a senior US official, Washington has weakened Iran's defenses and now intends to move on to the next stage.
"The US has assessed that a first round of attacks has achieved the goal of weakening Iranian defenses, and the next phase will heavily focus on destroying the country’s missile production, unmanned aerial vehicles and naval capability," the official says.
The source adds that missile stocks are running low, especially Tomahawk missiles for striking ground targets and SM-3 interceptor missiles.
Escalation in Middle East
On February 28, Israel and the US began attacking Iran to curb the country's nuclear ambitions and destroy its missile arsenal.
Work on this is still ongoing, but what is known for certain is that the strikes on the first day killed Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and many other high-ranking officials. According to a White House statement, Iran lost at least 49 officials.
As for the military operations in general, US President Donald Trump said recently that the operations were expected to last 4-5 weeks. He also said that the current attacks were not the end.
"We haven’t even started hitting them hard. The big wave hasn’t even happened. The big one is coming soon," he says.
Incidentally, a few hours ago, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also said that the strongest US strikes against Iran are yet to come.
Meanwhile, the US State Department is urging its citizens to leave the Middle East immediately.
