US pushes Iran deal as strikes intensify​

WASHINGTON: The United States is intensifying strikes on Iran while pursuing a deal to end Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, the White House said Monday, describing a dual-track approach of military pressure and diplomacy.

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the ongoing operation was “moving ahead successfully and according to plan”, with more than “11,000 enemy targets” struck so far.

She said the campaign had sharply degraded Iran’s military capabilities. Ballistic missile and drone attacks were “down by roughly 90 per cent”, while US forces had destroyed “more than 150” naval vessels, leaving Iran’s navy “combat ineffective”.

“Our military continues to obliterate Iran’s defence industrial base,” she said, adding that “nearly 70 per cent” of its missile, drone and naval production facilities had been damaged or destroyed.

Leavitt said US and Israeli forces had “asserted air dominance over Iran”, completing more than “11,000 successful combat flights”.