War Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday that the unfolding U.S. operation against Iran remains “laser-focused” and decisive in achieving its objectives, pushing back on comparisons to past prolonged conflicts while outlining a campaign he said is systematically degrading Tehran’s military capabilities.
Speaking at a Pentagon briefing on day 20 of Operation Epic Fury, Hegseth opened by directly challenging portrayals that the operation risks becoming a drawn-out war akin to Iraq or Afghanistan, arguing the mission is tightly defined and purpose-driven.
“The media here — not all of it, but much of it — wants you to think, just 19 days into this conflict, that we’re somehow spinning toward an endless abyss or a ‘forever war’ or a quagmire,” Hegseth said. “Nothing could be further from the truth.”
Drawing on his own service, he said the campaign is fundamentally different from past conflicts, emphasizing that it is not centered on nation-building but on eliminating direct threats to the United States.
“This is not those wars,” he said, describing the operation as “laser-focused” and “decisive,” with clearly defined objectives that have remained unchanged since the outset.
“Our objectives, given directly from our America First president, remain exactly what they were on day one,” Hegseth said. “Destroy missiles, launchers and Iran’s defense industrial base so they cannot rebuild, destroy their navy, and Iran never gets a nuclear weapon.”
He said the campaign is progressing according to plan, with U.S. forces applying sustained pressure across Iran’s military infrastructure.
“To the patriotic members of the press, nobody can deliver perfection in wartime,” Hegseth said, urging coverage to reflect battlefield realities. “But report the reality — we’re winning decisively and on our terms.”
Hegseth said U.S. forces have struck more than 7,000 targets across Iran and its military infrastructure, describing the campaign as the application of “overwhelming force” with precision.
“We are hunting them down — methodically, ruthlessly, overwhelmingly — delivering death and destruction from above,” he said, referring to ongoing strikes against Iranian missile systems, drone capabilities, and other military assets.
He added that the sustained pressure has sharply reduced Iran’s ability to conduct attacks, with ballistic missile launches and one-way drone strikes down roughly 90 percent since the start of the operation.
At sea, Hegseth said U.S. forces have “damaged or sunk over 120” Iranian vessels, effectively crippling key elements of the regime’s naval capabilities.
“We’ve decided to share the ocean with Iran — we’ve given them the bottom half,” he said.
He also pointed to mounting pressure on Iran’s leadership ranks, saying the “last job anyone in the world wants right now” is to be a senior leader in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or its Basij militia, calling such roles “temp jobs — all of them.”
Hegseth argued the operation is rooted in what he described as decades of Iranian aggression directed at the United States and its interests.
“Iran has terrorized the United States and our interests for 47 years,” Hegseth said, adding that the regime’s “core industries are state-sponsored terrorism, proxy militias, underground networks, ballistic missiles, and a violent, messianic Islamist ideology chasing some sort of apocalyptic endgame.”
“A regime like that — refusing to abandon its nuclear ambitions — is not just a regional problem,” he added. “It is a direct threat to America, to freedom, and to civilization.”
Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said U.S. Central Command remains “on plan” in pursuing Iranian missile capabilities, drone systems, naval forces, and defense infrastructure.
Caine said U.S. forces recently deployed 5,000-pound penetrator munitions against underground facilities housing coastal defense cruise missiles and are operating deeper inside Iranian airspace to target one-way attack drones.
He added that A-10 aircraft and AH-64 Apache helicopters have joined operations along the southern flank, targeting fast attack craft and limiting Iran’s ability to project power beyond its borders.
Both leaders also paid tribute to six U.S. service members killed during the operation, whose remains were returned to Dover Air Force Base.
“What I heard — through tears, through hugs — was the same from family after family: finish this,” Hegseth said. “And we will.”
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
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