Military strikes against Iran will not be an “endless war”, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Monday, adding that the United States wants to destroy Iran’s missiles, navy and other security infrastructure. TASR informs about it according to a Reuters report.
- The US has carried out precision strikes on Iranian infrastructure.
- A military operation is not supposed to be an endless war.
- The goal is not regime change, but the weakening of Iran.
- The American presence includes thousands of troops and modern weapons.
- The US did not reveal the details of the operation or the possibilities of further development.
“We attack them with surgical precision, overwhelming force and no remorse,” Hegseth said at a Pentagon news conference with Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Cain.
US President Donald Trump said on Sunday night that the military operation against Iran could take four weeks and that so far everything is going according to plan. Hegseth added that a US military operation in Iran could take less or longer than the four to five weeks that President Trump recently suggested.
“President Trump is completely free to talk about how long it may or may not take. Four weeks, two weeks, six weeks. It could be sooner. It could be later,” he said.
The morning attack was supposed to be a surprise
According to him, the US managed to kill 48 high-ranking members of the Iranian leadership, including the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, since Saturday. Dan Caine described that the attack against the Iranian leaders was supported by important US intelligence information that was shared with Israel’s allies. “This was a daylight attack … carried out by the Israel Defense Forces, facilitated by US intelligence,” Caine said.
He also stated that it will take some time to achieve the set goals and in some cases it will be difficult, while more Americans may lose their lives. “It is not an operation that can be carried out in one night,” he pointed out.
The planning of the attacks on Iran was “the culmination of months and in some cases years of careful planning.” US forces “achieved synchronized and multi-layered effects designed to disrupt, weaken, disable and destroy Iran’s ability to conduct and sustain combat operations on the US side,” Caine described.
They don’t want regime change
But according to Hegseth, the intention is not to change the regime, but “the regime has really changed and the world is better now,” he claimed at the press conference. At the same time, however, he called on the Iranians to use this chance wisely.
When asked if the US had sent troops to Iran, he said no. “We’re not going to dwell on what we do and don’t do.” He said it was “stupid” to expect American officials to publicly declare: “This is exactly how far we are willing to go. Why should we reveal to you, the enemy, or anyone else what we will or will not do to achieve our goal? We are fighting to win,” he added.
But he left that option open, saying Washington would do “whatever is necessary,” according to AFP. “This is not Iraq. This is not endless,” declared the defense minister.
According to the BBC website, Hegseth did not provide details about the ongoing operation. For example, he did not comment on its scope or possible duration. He also did not reveal US plans for how they would respond to Iran’s retaliatory attacks.
But Caine added that additional forces were moving in on Monday under the command of Admiral Brad Cooper of Central Command. The US presence in Iran includes thousands of members of all branches of the armed forces, including reserve forces and the National Guard; hundreds of modern fighters; dozens of refueling planes; the strike group of aircraft carriers Lincoln and Ford and their onboard air wings. “Joint forces have conducted hundreds of missions over land and sea,” Cooper said.
