Pete Hegseth claims decisive US military victory over Iran
US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth. PHOTO: REUTERS/ File
United States Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday that the country had a decisive military victory over Iran and that Tehran's missile programme was functionally destroyed.
Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Dan Caine spoke to reporters a day after President Donald Trump from the brink of a threatened full-on assault on Iran on Tuesday night, two hours before a deadline he had set for Tehran to open the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.
In a media briefing at the Pentagon on Wednesday, the US defence secretary said, "Iran's air force has been wiped out. Iran no longer has an air defence, any sort of a comprehensive air defence system. We own their skies. Their missile programme is functionally destroyed. Launchers, production facilities and existing stockpiles depleted and decimated and almost completely ineffective."
He said 800 strikes on Tuesday night had destroyed Iran's industrial base. "[Iran] can no longer build missiles, build rockets, build launchers, or build UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles). Their factories have been razed to the ground," he added.
Hegseth added that the US had used less than 10% of its combat power in its war against Iran.
Caine said US military objectives in Iran had been met, but the ceasefire was a pause, and forces remained ready to resume combat.
Hegseth said the US military was "hanging around" in the Middle East to ensure Iran complied with the two-week ceasefire and to monitor the country's enriched uranium stockpile.
"On the uranium, we're watching it. We know what they have, and they will give it up, and we'll get it. We'll take it if we have to," Hegseth told reporters.
Following the announcement of a two-week ceasefire brokered by Pakistan, United States President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday that his administration would work closely with Iran,