By Idrees Ali, Phil Stewart, Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey
WASHINGTON, March 4 (Reuters) - Iran is firing fewer missiles than it did at the start of the war on Saturday, the top U.S. general said on Wednesday, as he argued Iran's military capabilities were greatly diminished as the United States expands its strikes inside Iran.
"We will now begin to expand inland striking progressively deeper into Iranian territory, and creating additional freedom of maneuver for US forces," General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a news briefing at the Pentagon.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the United States was winning in its war against Iran, even as he lamented six U.S. troops killed so far in the conflict. He added the United States would outlast Iran.
Hegseth confirmed that the U.S. military sank an Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka, calling it the first sinking of an enemy ship by torpedo since World War Two.
The U.S. sinking was first reported by Reuters.
"An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters. Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo. Quiet death," Hegseth said.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali, Phil Stewart, Donia Chiacu and Michelle Nichols)
