Washington Strikes First: America's Preemptive Strategy Upends the Global Conflict Scenario the Authoritarian Axis Spent Years Building

On March 5, 2026, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and the commander of United States Central Command (CENTCOM), Brad Cooper, held a press briefing summarizing the results of the first week of Operation “Epic Fury.” 

They reported that more than 30 vessels of the Iranian Navy had been destroyed and that no Iranian military ships remained in the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, or the Gulf of Oman.

By March 10, the total number of destroyed ships had reached 50, meaning the conventional fleet of the Iranian Navy had ceased to exist as an operational force, and control of the strait would henceforth be exercised exclusively by the “mosquito fleet” of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The number of ballistic missile strikes decreased by 90%, while UAV attacks dropped by 83%. These indicators reflect the structural degradation of the capabilities upon which the regime built its capacity for regional power projection.