Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth has acknowledged that some Iranian air attacks may still hit their targets even as he asserted that US military superiority is quickly giving it control of Iran’s airspace.
The US has spared “no expense or capability” to enhance air defence systems to protect American forces and allies in the Middle East, Hegseth told reporters at the Pentagon days after the US and Israel attacked Iran in a war that has widened throughout the region.
“This does not mean we can stop everything, but we ensured that the maximum possible defence and maximum possible force protection was set up before we went on offence,” he said.
He also declared that “Iran cannot outlast us,” signalling an intensifying military campaign days after coordinated US-Israeli strikes killed Iran’s Supreme Leader and senior security officials.
“I stand before you today with one unmistakable message about Operation Epic Fury. America is winning decisively, devastatingly and without mercy, under the direct command of President Donald Trump,” Hegseth said.
“They are toast, and they know it … and we have only just begun,” he said, promising to “hunt, dismantle, demoralise, destroy and defeat” Iran’s military capabilities.
The offensive, launched February 28, is “laser-focused,” Hegseth said, on obliterating Iran’s missile and drone programmes, annihilating its navy and crippling critical security infrastructure. “Iran will never possess a nuclear bomb,” he added.
‘20 Iranian naval vessels destroyed’
Caine said US forces have struck more than 2,000 targets and destroyed over 20 Iranian naval vessels, including a submarine.
“We will now begin to expand inland, striking progressively deeper into Iranian territory,” he said, creating what he described as greater freedom of manoeuvre for American forces.
More bombers and fighter aircraft were arriving in the theatre on Wednesday, Hegseth said, dismissing reports of dwindling munitions. With “complete control of the sky,” he said, the US would deploy 500-, 1,000- and 2,000-pound GPS- and laser-guided bombs from what he called a “nearly unlimited stockpile.”
He also claimed the leader of a unit that had attempted to assassinate President Trump was killed on Tuesday.
“Iran tried to kill President Trump, and President Trump got the last laugh,” Hegseth said.
