US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has warned Iran that Tuesday will be “our most intense day of attacks inside Iran”.
“More fighters, more bombers, more strikes, more refined intelligence and better than ever before,” he told the media at a Pentagon press conference.
Hegseth noted that “the last 24 hours have seen Iran launch the lowest number of missiles it has yet fired.”
Amid mixed messages on the timing of the war, Hegseth again pledged that the Trump administration would not wade into another Middle East quagmire.
“This is not 2003, this is not endless nation building… It is not even close. This generation of soldiers, and this president will not allow that to happen,” he said.
General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the US forces hit more than 5,000 targets, and that their three objectives include destroying the capabilities of Iran’s ballistic missiles and drones, striking the Iranian navy to allow movement through the Strait of Hormuz, and striking more at Iran’s military and industrial base.
Caine also confirmed that the United States was conducting attacks against Iranian minelaying vessels.
The war has shut down the Strait of Hormuz, a gateway for global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments, leaving oil tankers unable to sail for more than a week and forcing producers to halt pumping as reservoirs fill.
With AP, Reuters
