‘Only just begun:’ Pentagon says efforts in Iran are ‘throttling up’
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the U.S. military is four days into Operation Epic Fury and “we have only just begun fighting.” He and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine provided an update on the operation Wednesday, saying strikes will continue and the military is “throttling up.”
“America is winning. Decisively, devastatingly and without mercy,” Hegseth said, noting more troops are joining the operation and it’s still “very early.”
“More and larger waves are coming,” Hegseth said. “We are just getting started.”
Future plans for the operation
Hegseth and Caine briefly outlined plans for the future of the operation, saying that “more bombers and fighters” are arriving on Wednesday.
Caine noted U.S. missile strikes will continue, but now they’re targeting new locations.
“We will now begin to expand inland, striking progressively deeper into Iranian territory and creating additional freedom of maneuver for U.S. forces,” Caine said.
He noted the goal is to ensure Iran can’t rebuild its military power, and said U.S. Central Command is making progress.
“Iran’s theater ballistic missile shots fired are down 86% from the first day of fighting, with a 23% decrease just in the last 24 hours. And their one-way attack drone shots are down 73% from the opening days,” Caine said.
Similar to Hegseth, he said things are “throttling up,” and the U.S. military is “staying ahead of the enemy.”
Hegseth and Caine both noted the U.S. has “air superiority across the southern flank of the Iranian coast.”
Caine says the superiority allows the U.S. to “penetrate their defenses with overwhelming precision and firepower.”
Taking down Iranian warships
Hegseth also addressed a recent maneuver in the Indian Ocean, saying a U.S. submarine torpedoed an Iranian ship, resulting in a “quiet death.”
The move marked the first time since World War II that a torpedo has been used to sink an enemy ship.
Hegseth did not name the ship, but the Sri Lankan navy said earlier Wednesday that it rescued 32 people from an Iranian warship, the IRIS Dena, and recovered several bodies from the water.
Hegseth said the military took down another warship as well, the Soleimani. The ship was named after former Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, whom U.S. forces killed during Trump’s first term.
“The Iranian Navy rests at the bottom of the Persian Gulf,” Hegseth said. “I guess POTUS got him twice.”
Is there a timeline?
Hegseth again noted the lack of a timeline for the operation, saying it’s all up to the president’s discretion.
“We can say four weeks, but it could be six, it could be eight, it could be three,” Hegseth said. However, he added, “Iran cannot outlast us… we set the tone and the tempo of this fight.”
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
