Columnists at The Washington Post warn that US forces in the Middle East may soon be forced to decide which airborne targets to intercept and which to let pass, as stocks of air-defense missiles are being depleted at alarming speed.

Citing their sources, the authors report that the rate at which surface-to-air missiles are being used in the operation against Iran is unsustainably high. They note that the Pentagon is effectively burning through its reserves of precision-guided weapons, even though only a few days have passed since the start of the campaign. According to the newspaper, US forces have already fired hundreds of advanced interceptor missiles. The commentators conclude that, within just «a few days» Washington will likely have to start prioritizing which targets are intercepted.

The article recalls that on 28 February the United States and Israel launched a large-scale military operation against Iran. Officials in Tel-Aviv stated that the aim of the strikes is to prevent Teheran from obtaining nuclear weapons. US President Donald Trump, for his part, threatened to destroy the Iranian navy and the country’s defense industry, and also called on Iranian citizens to overthrow the regime.

Later, Trump acknowledged that the operation could drag on longer than initially projected. At the same time, Secretary of State Marko Rubio announced that even more powerful strikes against Iran were being prepared.