"Commander of the US Central Command Admiral Brad Cooper claimed forces were "dismantling Iran's decades old threat to the free flow of commerce through the Strait of Hormuz" - despite Commander-in-chief Donald Trump's somewhat desperate plea to allies for help on Sunday night. "We're zeroed in on dismantling Iran's decades old threat to the free flow of commerce through the Strait of Hormuz, through a combination of air, land and maritime capabilities," he claimed as he gave a briefing on so-called 'Operation Epic Fury' on Monday. "We have successfully destroyed over 100 Iranian naval vessels, and we aren't done. We will continue to rapidly deplete Iran's ability to threaten freedom of navigation in and around the Strait of Hormuz." It comes after Trump said he was assembling a coalition of 'about seven' allies help keep the Strait of Hormuz open - although these countries were not confirmed and a number of key allies like the UK and France appeared hesistant. Trump added that it would be a 'very bad future' for NATO if help was not forthcoming. Iranian FM Abbas Araghchi has said the Strait - which handles around 20 per cent of global oil traffic - "is open to friends and non-hostile countries, but closed to enemies and those who collaborate with them." The US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28. Tehran responded with strikes on Israel and US assets in the region. The conflict soon widened to Israel and Hezbollah trading strikes across the border with Lebanon too. "