Secretary of War Pete Hegseth sidestepped a question from a reporter on Friday regarding whether the United States military would put troops in Iran to seize enriched uranium.
President Donald Trump announced Operation Epic Fury in a video posted on Truth Social early in the morning of Feb. 28 after attempts to negotiate a cessation of Iran’s efforts to acquire nuclear weapons failed. Hegseth was asked about the Islamic Republic of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium, a crucial material for the weapons program.
“Iran is thought to have 440 kg of highly enriched uranium in at least 2 locations and several 1000 kg of lower purity material. Can you conclude this mission successfully without physically taking control of that material, or are you counting on diplomatic negotiations to provide some measure of control leading to its removal?” Wall Street Journal reporter Michael Gordon asked. “You’ve mentioned missiles, you’ve mentioned drones, military industry, you haven’t stipulated that taking care of that material is a mission priority.”
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“We’ve said from the beginning, denying Iran nuclear weapons is a core mission. We have, we retain options across the spectrum to ensure that they never do, and President Trump has said that, and that’s why this mission actually couldn’t have been possible without Midnight Hammer,” Hegseth responded.
The United States struck facilities in Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan related to Iran’s effort to develop nuclear weapons early in the morning of June 21, using as many as 14 GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators in the operation, which involved a 37-hour flight by seven B-2A Spirit bombers.
“Without what those B-2s did going across and obliterating those facilities, that set the condition for the opportunity to do what we’re doing now,” Hegseth said. “So he’s kept, the president’s kept, his eye focused on nuclear capabilities, and I will say we have a range of options up to and including Iran deciding that they will give those up, which of course we would welcome. They weren’t willing to do in negotiations.”
“I would never tell this group or the world what we’re willing to do or how far we’re willing to go, but we have options for sure,” Hegseth said.
United States Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed four crew members died in the Thursday crash of a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker in western Iraq. Six American servicemembers were killed in an Iranian attack on an operations center in Kuwait, while a seventh died of wounds sustained in an Iranian attack on an American base in Saudi Arabia. Another American servicemember died from a medical incident since the start of Operation Epic Fury.
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