TEHRAN — Two days after his admission that the U.S. has lost air superiority to Iran, Central Command (CENTCOM) Commander Gen. Kenneth McKenzie spoke at a press conference held at the Pentagon on Thursday, reiterating that Iran knows how to use advanced military equipment.

Responding to a question about the range and precision of the Iranian military equipment, McKenzie stated that the Iranian military equipment has grown both qualitatively and quantitatively.

“Over the last five to seven years, the Iranians have made remarkable qualitative improvements in their ballistic missile force, while it has grown quantitatively as well. Their numbers, depending on how you choose to count the weapons, something a little less than 3000 of various ranges. Nonetheless their accuracy has become much better than it used to be. That is very concerning to me.”

Elaborating on what he means by that, he said, “We saw they demonstrated in the attack on Al-Assad air base in January of 2020, where the Iranian missiles generally hit within tens of meters of the targets they chose for them. That is very concerning to me.”

He went on to explain significant military achievements by Iran, saying that the Islamic Republic has invested heavily in its drone program, making significant accomplishments over the last five years. 

In response to a question about the Iranian nuclear program, he said “They have done nothing that is irreversible up to this point.” 

In response to a question to clarify what he means about the Iranian nuclear program he said, that is a question for the Department of State, but his brief comment would be that Iran wants to see what happens in the negotiations with the United States.

On Tuesday, April 20, Gen. McKenzie admitted that “For the first time since the Korean War, we are operating without complete air superiority.”

SA/PA