United States Central Command (CENTCOM) has said that military strikes around the Strait of Hormuz are not effective. The top US commander in the Middle East, Admiral Brad Cooper, has advised US President Donald Trump that the designated bombing targets in the area had largely been exhausted.

Cooper added that there was no point in continuing the strikes unless the US returned to major combat operations, according to Axios.  This advice has allegedly impacted President Trump’s decision on Friday to pause US strikes against Iran, the sources said.

Trump paused the strikes on Friday, abruptly ending a 13-day bombing campaign amid reports that regional mediators were rushing to broker a new ceasefire. Several American news outlets reported that Trump was also concerned about dwindling stocks of interceptors used to counter Iran’s retaliatory missile and drone attacks on bases across the Middle East. Trump, however, denied that the US was running short of ammunition. –RT

US Holds Off On Major Iran Strike Over Fears Of Missile Shortage

The Strait of Hormuz, which is a vital maritime chokepoint, remains closed to regular commercial shipping despite American strikes on Iran’s port infrastructure and military sites in the country’s south. Iran has held firm as the US resumed its maritime blockade of Iran earlier this month following attacks on tankers attempting to transit the strait.

US Pauses Iran Bombing Campaign As Saudi-Houthi Red Sea Front Erupts

Iran has also urged countries aiding the US to stop, or they will also become legitimate targets. Iran warned that any support for continued US military aggression will make them targets for retaliation.

“Any country – whether Britain, the Persian Gulf states, or others – if they support the US in the war, they will become our legitimate targets,” Brigadier General Hossein Mohebbi, a spokesman for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said on Saturday. “Recently, US B-1 bombers used airbases in Britain. If they cooperate, they will become definite and legitimate targets for us.”

A similar message was reiterated by the deputy speaker of Iran’s parliament, Ali Nikzad, who warned that any nation “that serves as a source of aggression against our country will certainly be a legitimate target” for the Iranian military.