- Pentagon chief warns Iran that he misjudges US ability to sustain war.
- The US campaign targets Iranian missiles, missile production and the Iranian navy.
- According to him, Iran is making a “miscalculation” in thinking that the United States cannot support the war.
TAMPA: TAMPA: US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned on Thursday that Iran was making a serious miscalculation if it thought the United States could not sustain the ongoing war, stressing that Washington had the resources and determination to continue the military campaign for as long as necessary.
The Pentagon said earlier this week that the military campaign, known as Operation Epic Fury, was focused on destroying Iran’s offensive missiles, missile production and navy, while preventing Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
“There is no expansion of our goals. We know exactly what we are trying to accomplish,” Hegseth said.
He added that Trump “has an enormous say in who runs Iran given the ongoing operation.”
In a telephone interview with Reuters on Thursday, Trump said the United States should help choose the next person to lead the country.
The U.S. and Israeli military campaign that began Saturday has hit targets across the country and triggered Iranian retaliatory strikes in the region as Tehran seeks to impose a high cost on the United States, Israel and their allies.
Iran has attacked countries like Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Bahrain firefighters extinguished a fire at a refinery following a missile strike.
Azerbaijan became the latest country involved, accusing Iran of firing drones into its territory and ordering its southern airspace closed for 12 hours.
Hegseth said that by hitting countries in the region, Iran would only bring them closer to the United States.
“It’s really about strengthening the unity of the resistance to focus exactly where we need to,” Hegseth said.
Next phase of operations
The United States hit more than 2,000 targets in Iran, including Iranian warships.
Admiral Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command, said on Thursday that US forces had destroyed 30 Iranian warships, including an Iranian drone carrier.
Cooper said the United States was undermining Iran’s ability to rebuild.
“As we move to the next phase of this operation, we will systematically dismantle Iran’s missile production capability for the future, and that is absolutely underway,” Cooper said, adding that it would take some time.
The U.S. military has identified the six U.S. Army Reserve soldiers killed when a drone struck a U.S. military installation in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait.
Trump and other top officials have warned that the Iran conflict will lead to more U.S. military deaths.
Hegseth, at the press conference, said Iran was making a mistake if it thought the United States could not support the ongoing war, adding that Washington had only just started fighting.
“Iran is hoping that we cannot maintain this situation, which is a very serious miscalculation,” Hegseth said. “We set the schedule.”
