Pete Hegseth said that while Donald Trump is controlling the pace of the war, he acknowledges that Israel has its own agenda.
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Pentagon Secretary Pete Hegseth declared that the United States is “winning” the war against Iran, but gave no timeline for when the war would end, emphasizing that the decision rests with President Donald Trump.
Hegseth told reporters on Tuesday that the United States is focused on three main goals: neutralizing Iran’s missile capabilities, destroying its navy and “permanently denying Iran a nuclear weapon.”
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“We will not relent until the enemy is completely and decisively defeated,” Hegseth said.
“We are doing this by choice based on our timeline. Today, for example, will also be the day of the most intense attacks inside Iran, with the most fighters, the most bombers, the most attacks.”
Despite repeated claims by the US government that Iran is losing, Iranian leaders have remained defiant and vowed to continue fighting back.
“Those stronger than you have not been able to eradicate our country. Those who tried have themselves been eradicated,” top official Ali Larijani said in a social media post on Tuesday.
Iran has consistently denied seeking nuclear weapons and insists its plans are peaceful. After the United States attacked several of Iran’s major nuclear facilities in June 2025, President Trump claimed that the United States had “killed” Iran’s nuclear program.
Iran responded to the U.S. and Israeli attack that killed more than 1,250 people, including the country’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei, with missile and drone strikes against Israel and the entire region.
Iranian forces have also attacked oil facilities in the Gulf and have largely succeeded in blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route for energy trade, sending fuel prices soaring.
Late Monday, President Trump threatened Iran with “death, fire and fury” if it did not allow oil shipments to pass through the strait.
Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, fired back at the US president, saying the Strait of Hormuz “will either become a strait of peace and prosperity for all, or a strait of defeat and suffering for warmongers.”
The head of the U.S. military, General Dan Cain, said the U.S. military continues to “hunt and attack minelayers” in the Gulf.
President Trump suggested last week that the U.S. Navy may accompany oil ships through the strait to ensure their safety.
But Mr. Kaine suggested on Tuesday that no decision had yet been made to bring in U.S. troops to reopen the waterway.
“If we are given an escort mission, we will consider a wide range of options to establish the military conditions under which it can be carried out,” he said.
Last week, Israel attacked an oil depot in Tehran, causing fires and heavy smoke throughout the city. The move has been criticized by some ardent supporters of the war.
Hegseth acknowledged that Israel has its own goals for the conflict.
He said attacking Iran’s energy infrastructure was “not necessarily” a US objective.
“Israel has been a really strong partner in this effort. Even when Israel had different goals, we pursued them. Ultimately, we stayed focused on our goals,” the Pentagon chief said.
Mr. Hegseth spelled out the specific aims of the war, but Mr. Trump is shifting the goal from “freedom” for Iranians to installing an Iranian leader from within the governing system willing to comply with U.S. and Israeli demands.
Asked how long the war would last, Hegseth said: “The president has set a very specific mission to accomplish, and our job is to carry it out relentlessly. From now on, the president will be in control of the accelerator. It’s up to the president to decide.”
