On March 1, 2026, US President Donald Trump announced that American forces had “destroyed and sunk 9 Iranian naval ships, some of them relatively large and important,” adding that additional vessels were being targeted and would “soon be floating at the bottom of the sea.”
According to his statement, a separate strike “largely destroyed” Iran’s naval headquarters. A US defense official later confirmed the substance of the post.
OPERATIONAL CONTEXT
The strikes reportedly took place over the previous 48 hours as part of a broad US-Israeli campaign against Iranian military infrastructure. The naval component appears to have focused on the Gulf of Oman, the Strait of Hormuz and southern Iranian ports.
