Iran has fired more than 500 ballistic missiles, US military says

Iran has fired more than 500 ballistic missiles and more than 2,000 drones in retaliation for the Israeli-US attacks, the US Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees US forces in the region, said on Tuesday.

"Iran is indiscriminately targeting civilians as they launch these missiles and drones," CENTCOM's Admiral Brad Cooper said in an operational update shared on social media platform X. He added that "the evidence is crystal clear and overwhelming."

The official stressed that "we are seeing Iran's ability to hit us and our partners is declining, while our combat power, on the other hand, is building."

At the start of the war on Saturday, Israel's military estimated that Iran had around 2,500 ballistic missiles. In addition to the missiles fired by Iran, many missiles are likely to have been destroyed in bombing raids by the US and Israeli militaries since then.

Meanwhile, some Democrats in the US have expressed concern about the large amount of ammunition the military is using in the war.

Senator Mark Kelly, a prominent member of the Armed Services Committee, warned that the US does not have "an unlimited supply," as reported by broadcaster CNN.

"The Iranians do have the ability to make a lot of Shahed drones, ballistic missiles, medium range, short range and they've got a huge stockpile," the former fighter pilot and astronaut said.

"So at some point ... this becomes a math problem and how can we resupply air defense munitions. Where are they going to come from?"

The US is using defence systems including Patriot and THAAD in the war against Iran. The latter is primarily used to intercept ballistic missiles.