WASHINGTON, March 2 (KUNA) -- US Central Command (CENTCOM) said Monday American forces cleared the Gulf of Oman from Iranian vessels, affirming freedom of international navigation would remain a defensive priority for the US.
"Two days ago, the Iranian regime had 11 ships in the Gulf of Oman, today they have ZERO," CENTCOM said in a statement.
"The Iranian regime has harassed and attacked international shipping in the Gulf of Oman for decades. Those days are over," it added.
CENTCOM, which has been managing ongoing military operations against Iran since last Saturday, said freedom of maritime navigation "has underpinned American and global economic prosperity for more than 80 years. US forces will continue to defend it." The US and Israeli occupation have been waging attacks on Iranian targets for two days now.
US President Donald Trump said the US has clear goals in Operation Epic Fury: destroying Iran's missile capabilities, eliminating naval fleet, making sure what he called "world largest sponsor of terror" would not be able to acquire a nuclear weapon and making sure the Iranian regime would not arm and finance "terror armies outside its borders." (end) asj.bs