Next phase of US airstrike campaign in Iran to target missile manufacturing

US Central Command (CENTCOM) has devised plans to prevent Iran’s remaining enriched uranium from being weaponized by remnants of the Iranian regime, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested.

Jared Szuba

Mar 5, 2026

TAMPA, Florida — The next phase of the US bombing campaign in Iran will go beyond destroying Iran’s ballistic missile stockpiles and launchers to destroying its weapons manufacturing abilities, top Pentagon officials said Thursday.

“The president gave us another task: to raze — or level — Iran's ballistic missile industrial base,” the top US commander overseeing the effort, Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, told reporters gathered at CENTCOM headquarters on Thursday.

“So as we transition to the next phase of this operation, we will systematically dismantle Iran's missile production capability for the future,” Cooper said.

American bomber aircraft have hit more than 200 sites across Iran since Tuesday, Cooper told reporters, while air........

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