Iran War update: CENTCOM Middle East commander says the US is winning

Added: 2026-05-20

[00:00:00]In less than 40 days, CENTCOM forces achieved our military objectives. The head of US Central Command, responsible for the Middle East, headed to Capitol Hill on Thursday. Lawmakers grilling Admiral Brad Cooper for the first time since the start of the Iran conflict.

[00:00:14]Cooper says the US is winning and pushed back on recent intelligence estimates showing Iran still has significant missile and launch capabilities.

[00:00:22]>> It's more than just the numbers. It's the command and control that's been shattered. It's a significant degradation in capability. There were also tough questions about civilian casualties. Admiral Cooper says there's only one incident under investigation and plenty of talk about America's munition stockpile with the US firing at least 45% of its Patriot missiles since the conflict began. Can you talk to me about how this constrains our air and missile defense? Senator, I have all the munitions necessary to both defend our forces as well as conduct a broad range of contingencies.

[00:00:58]But some Democrats claim that's not true and they're blaming President Trump.

[00:01:02]American munitions stockpiles are shrinking. All for what? What's his goal here? The hearing came just hours after Iran seized another vessel in the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranian government claims the Strait is open, but ships will have to quote cooperate with Iran's military.

[00:01:18]That's could be ended by the removal of this illegal blockade imposed by Americans. Admiral Cooper told lawmakers it will take about a decade for Iran to rebuild its navy. On Capitol Hill, Jennifer Griffin, Fox News.