The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen Dan Caine, says Iran’s missile and drone launches have fallen sharply since the start of the US–Israeli strikes, describing what he called “steady progress” by US forces.

Speaking at a Pentagon briefing, Caine said: “As of this morning, US Central Command is making steady progress. Iran’s theatre ballistic missile shots fired are down 86% from the first day of fighting.” He added that the decline had accelerated in recent hours.

He also claimed there had been a further 23% drop in missile launches over the past 24 hours, and said Iran’s “one-way attack drone” launches were down 73%.

Caine argued that the reduced tempo of Iranian fire has allowed US forces to widen their advantage, saying it has enabled CENTCOM to establish “localised air superiority” along the southern stretch of Iran’s coastline and to penetrate Iranian defences with “overwhelming precision and firepower”.

The comments follow Donald Trump’s claim a day earlier that Iran’s air force and navy had been “knocked out”.

UK Fact Check Politics note: these figures are claims made by US military leadership and have not been independently verified.