The US military has struck Iran’s flagship drone carrier, the IRIS Shahid Bagheri, in a high‑profile blow to Tehran’s naval power and drone arsenal, Central Command officials confirm.

Newly released footage shows precision munitions smashing into the converted container ship, with debris cascading off the stern and fires raging across the flat deck as the vessel lists in port. US commanders say the ship was hit twice in the latest raid and was still burning hours later, part of a widening campaign to cripple Iran’s ability to launch long‑range drones and missiles across the region.1

The Shahid Bagheri—roughly the size of a World War II carrier and specially built to carry swarms of attack and reconnaissance drones—was already targeted in the opening hours of Operation Epic Fury, the US–Israeli air and naval offensive that began on February 28. Pentagon officials now describe it as “effectively out of the fight,” though they stop short of formally declaring the ship sunk.

For Iran, the strike is both a military and psychological shock: the carrier had been showcased as a symbol of self‑reliance and a platform to project drone power from the Gulf to the Indian Ocean. State media so far downplays the damage, but pro‑government channels vow that attacks on “American and Zionist assets” will intensify.

With more than 30 Iranian vessels destroyed or disabled in under a week, US commanders insist the naval balance has decisively shifted. Yet every fresh explosion around Shahid Bagheri also raises a darker question: is this the decisive blow that ends Iran’s drone offensive—or the spark that pulls the entire region deeper into an uncontrollable war at sea?