The defense secretary claimed that America "didn't start this war" but that "we are ending it" in a new press conference
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NEED TO KNOW
- U.S. and Israeli forces launched Operation Epic Fury over the weekend, targeting Iran’s missile, naval and nuclear capabilities
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned Iran against threatening Americans, calling the mission decisive and unapologetic
- President Donald Trump confirmed Iran’s supreme leader was killed and acknowledged potential further U.S. casualties
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine addressed the American people on Monday, March 2, following the United States' military action in Iran, titled "Operation Epic Fury."
During the press conference, Hegseth, 45, claimed that America “didn’t start this war,” adding, “but under President Trump, we’re finishing it.”
U.S. and Israeli forces began dropping bombs on Saturday, Feb. 28. The ensuing battle has so far claimed the lives of four U.S. service members.
Hegseth warned Iran and other countries, “If you kill Americans, if you threaten Americans anywhere on Earth, we will hunt you down without apology and without hesitation and we will kill you.”
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Citing the reported threat of Iran’s nuclear weapons and capabilities as fueling the Trump administration’s decision to target the nation, he noted, “Crazy regimes like Iran hell-bent on prophetic Islamist delusions cannot have nuclear weapons. It’s common sense.”
He claimed that Iran “was building powerful missiles and drones to create a conventional shield for their nuclear blackmail ambitions.”
Highlighting the collaboration with Israel’s military, Hegseth added, “Turns out the regime who chanted, ‘Death to America and death to Israel,’ was gifted death from America and death from Israel. This is not a so-called regime change war, but the regime sure did change and the world is better off for it.”
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Claiming that American diplomats “bent over backwards” to offer “pathway after pathway to peace” ahead of the U.S.-Israeli strike on Iran, Hegseth said, “The former regime had every chance to make a peaceful and sensible deal, but Tehran was not negotiating, they were stalling.”
Of the attack, he said, “We’re hitting them surgically, overwhelmingly and unapologetically,” adding, “This is not Iraq, this is not endless. I was there for both. Our generation knows better and so does this president.”
He said the mission of Operation Epic Fury is to “destroy the missile threat, destroy the Navy, no nukes.”
“We fight to win and we don’t waste time or lives,” Hegseth added. “As the president warned, an effort of this scope will include casualties. War is hell and always will be.”
The defense secretary advised the Iranian people to “take advantage of this incredible opportunity” and Iranian security forces to “choose wisely.”
“We are not defenders anymore; we are warriors,” Hegseth added.
Credit: The White House
President Donald Trump addressed the military operation on Feb. 28 in an eight-minute video on Truth Social.
"My administration has taken every possible step to minimize the risk to U.S. personnel in the region,” Trump, 79, said. “Even so, and I do not make this statement lightly, the Iranian regime seeks to kill. The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost and we may have casualties. That often happens in war."
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Trump also shared that Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed at age 86 amid the strike on Iran.
Speaking in an update about the attack, shared on the White House’s YouTube page, Trump said, “As one nation, we grieve for the true American patriots who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, even as we continue the righteous mission for which they gave their lives. We pray for the full recovery of the wounded and send our immense love and eternal gratitude to the families of the fallen. And sadly, there will likely be more before it ends. That's the way it is. Likely be more."
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