Washington DC [US], March 3 (ANI): The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Tuesday that the US forces carried out sustained operations targeting key Iranian military infrastructure, including facilities linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

In a post on X, CENTCOM said, 'U.S. forces have destroyed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps command and control facilities, Iranian air defense capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and military airfields during sustained operations. We will continue to take decisive action against imminent threats posed by the Iranian regime.'

CENTCOM also said that multiple squadrons of F/A-18s are supporting sustained operations against Iran. According to CENTCOM U.S. forces are flying day and night to deliver overwhelming firepower. U.S. B-1 bombers also struck deep inside Iran to degrade Iranian ballistic missile capabilities. This enhanced use of firepower comes amid escalating hostilities between Washington and Tehran.

Separately, Al Jazeera reported that Iran claimed to have launched a 'massive missile and drone' attack on the US air base in Bahrain. Iran's IRGC said it destroyed the main command building of a US air base in Bahrain during a drone and missile attack early Tuesday. It said that 20 drones and 3 missiles struck the Sheikh Isa base, also setting fuel tanks on fire.

Iran's Ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, stated that Iran will continue to defend itself decisively for as long as the US-Israeli aggression persists.

The conflict has also spread to Lebanon with Israel mounting an offensive against the Hezbollah. Israel said that the head of Hezbollah's intelligence arm was killed in an overnight strike. The IDF said Makled was responsible for 'forming the intelligence picture using various intelligence collection tools to provide the Hezbollah terror organization with intelligence assessments regarding IDF troops and the State of Israel.' The Israeli Air Force also intercepted two unmanned aerial vehicles that crossed from Lebanon

Earlier, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the US military operation against Iran was aimed at 'eliminating' the threat posed by Iran's short-range ballistic missiles and its naval capabilities, particularly regarding threats to global shipping. Echoing US President Donald Trump he said that the hardest hits were yet to come.

'The hardest hits are yet to come from the U.S. military. The next phase will be even more punishing on Iran than it is right now... The world will be a safer place when we're done with this operation,' Rubio said

'Our mission and our focus is the destruction of their ballistic missile capabilities and their ability to manufacture them, as well as the threat posed by their Navy to global shipping,' he aded.

The scope of the conflict continues to widen with the Gulf States now drawn into it. (ANI)