War Secretary Pete Hegseth promised “today will be, yet again, our most intense day of strikes” against Iran.
Hegseth made his pledge Tuesday morning during a news briefing on Operation Epic Fury, The Hill reported.
“The most fighters, the most bombers, the most strikes. Intelligence more refined and better than ever. So that’s on one hand,” Hegseth said at the Pentagon. “On the other hand, the last 24 hours have seen Iran fire the lowest number of missiles they’ve been capable of firing yet.”
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The U.S. Central Command (Centcom) said in its Monday the U.S. military has hit more than 5,000 targets in Iran since the war started Feb. 28.
This includes sinking or damaging more than 50 Iranian ships.
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said there are three objectives in Iran: destroying Iranian ballistic missile and drone capability, striking “deeper into Iran’s military and industrial base” and continuing to decimate Iran’s navy to allow maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran fired new attacks against Israel and Gulf nations on Tuesday as the conflict broadened.
Shock waves from the war include higher oil prices and rattling the world economy.
Hegseth said Tuesday Iran stands alone and is “badly losing.”
He added Iran’s proxy groups in the region — Hezbollah, the Houthis in Yemen and Hamas — are “either broken, ineffective or on the sidelines.”
