A pair of B-1B Lancers depart for a test mission at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on Sept. 11, 2025. The supersonic, multimission heavy bomber has taken part in attacks on Iran during Operation Epic Fury, according to U.S. Central Command (Todd Schannuth/U.S. Air Force)
U.S. forces have hit 1,700 targets in Iran — including 300 new sites — while adding B-1 Lancer and B-52 Stratofortress bombers to the air attack, U.S. Central Command reported Tuesday morning.
President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Monday that the attacks could last for at least several weeks, and no end date was currently in the plans. Additional aircraft, weapons and troops were being sent to the conflict.
The Pentagon has confirmed that six Americans have been killed.
The attack update from U.S. Central Command showed that B-1 Lancers and B-52 Stratofortress bombers had taken part in attacks, joining previous missions flown by B-2 Spirits. The B-2 missions were flown on 37-hour round-trip missions from bases in the United States and used aerial refueling.
The B-1 is a supersonic bomber that specializes in low-altitude attacks. The B-52s are four-engine heavy bombers that were built in the 1960s. They primarily use “stand-off” weapons that can be launched from a distance beyond anti-aircraft fire.
The U.S. is using F-15E Strike Eagle II, F-16 Fighting Falcon, F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II fighters; A-10 Thunderbolt ground attack; and EA-18G electronic warfare aircraft, Central Command said.
Targets have included command and control, headquarters, air defense sites, ballistic missile sites, anti-ship missile sites and communications centers. U.S. officials have said eight Iranian ships have been sunk.
The update said the attack targeted Iranian submarines but had no additional details.
No U.S. ground troops have been involved in the attacks. Trump said Monday that he did not expect they would be necessary, but told the New York Post that he could change his mind and that he did not have the “yips with respect to boots on the ground.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Iran on Monday that the U.S. planned to ratchet up the attacks.
“The hardest hits are yet to come,” he said.
Greece has sent two frigates and four F-16 fighter jets to Cyprus following a Shahed-136 drone strike on RAF Akrotiri, the British military’s main base for Middle East operations. Germany also said they would take steps to protect their military assets and nationals in the Middle East.
Some analysts have said the Iranian strategy is to spread the war into a larger regional conflict that will disrupt the flow of oil from the Gulf States and halt shipping through the Straits of Hormuz and up to the Suez Canal.
On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost over 1,000 points near the opening bell, but had recovered two-thirds of the loss by 2:30 p.m. Eastern. AAA reported an overnight increase of 11 cents in regular gasoline prices nationwide.
Matthew Koenig, a former defense official in Republican administrations, told the New York Times in a report published Tuesday that the U.S. has achieved many of its objectives — the killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei and the destruction or damage of Iraq’s nuclear and missile research and production facilities.
“So I think they could go home almost at any time and declare this a success,” Koenig said. “I think the strategy is more about what they want to avoid than about exactly what they want to achieve.”
