Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said the United States will launch its highest volume of airstrikes yet over Iran, signaling a major escalation in the ongoing campaign targeting Tehran’s military infrastructure. The announcement underscores Washington’s intensifying air war as tensions surge across the Middle East and operations expand around the Iranian capital.
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NewsTranscript
00:00The United States is decimating the radical Iranian regime's military in a way the world
00:04has never seen before. Never before has a modern, capable military, which Iran used to have,
00:13been so quickly destroyed and made combat ineffective, devastated. We said it would
00:19not be a fair fight, and it has not been. As I stated during our first press conference on day
00:25two, that was 10 short days ago, the combination of the world's two most powerful air forces is
00:31unprecedented and unbeatable. Between our air force and that of the Israelis, over 15,000 enemy
00:40targets have been struck. That's well over 1,000 a day. No other combination of countries in the
00:46world can do that. So today, as we speak, we fly over the top of Iran and Tehran. Fighters and
00:56bombers
00:56all day, picking targets as they choose. As our intelligence gets better and better and more
01:04refined. Looking up, the IRGC and Iranian regime sees only two things on the side of aircraft,
01:12the Stars and Stripes and the Star of David. The evil regime's worst nightmare. Iran has no air
01:22defenses. Iran has no air force. Iran has no Navy. Their missiles, their missile launchers and drones
01:29being destroyed or shot out of the sky. Their missile volume is down 90%. Their one-way attack drones
01:36yesterday, down 95%. And as the world is seeing, they are exercising sheer desperation in the Straits
01:45of Hormuz. Something we're dealing with. We have been dealing with it and don't need to worry about
01:52it. We're on plan to defeat, destroy, disable all of their meaningful military capabilities at a pace
02:00the world has never seen before. But it's not just that Iran doesn't have a functioning air force
02:07or that their entire Navy is at the bottom of the Persian Gulf or their missile force is shrinking
02:13daily. Even more importantly, they also don't have the ability to build more. That's the most important
02:20component I'd like to emphasize today. Soon and very soon, all of Iran's defense companies will be
02:29destroyed. For example, as of two days ago, Iran's entire ballistic missile production capacity.
02:35Every company that builds every component of those missiles has been functionally defeated,
02:40destroyed. Buildings, complexes and factory lines all across Iran destroyed. So we're shooting down
02:47and destroying what missiles they still have in stock. But more importantly, ensuring that they have
02:54no ability to make more. Their production lines, their military plants, their defense innovation centers
03:02defeated. Iran's leadership is in no better shape. Desperate and hiding, they've gone underground,
03:11cowering. That's what rats do. We know the new so-called not-so-supreme leader is wounded
03:19and likely disfigured. He put out a statement yesterday, a weak one actually, but there was no
03:26voice and there was no video. It was a written statement. He called for unity. Apparently killing
03:34tens of thousands of protesters is his kind of unity. Iran has plenty of cameras and plenty of voice
03:41recorders. Why a written statement? I think you know why. His father, dead. He's scared. He's injured.
03:50He's on the run and he lacks legitimacy. It's a mess for them. Who's in charge? Iran may not even
03:57know.
03:58With every passing hour, we know and we know they know that the military capabilities of their evil
04:05regime are crumbling. They can barely communicate, let alone coordinate. They're confused and we know
04:11it. Our response, we will keep pressing. We will keep pushing, keep advancing. No quarter, no mercy
04:19for our enemies. Yet some in this crew, in the press, just can't stop. Allow me to make a few
04:28suggestions.
04:30People look up at the TV and they see banners, they see headlines. I used to be in that business
04:35and I know that everything is written intentionally. For example, a banner or a headline,
04:42Mideast war intensifies, splashing on the screen the last couple of days alongside visuals of
04:47civilian or energy targets that Iran has hit because that's what they do. What should the banner read
04:54instead? How about Iran increasingly desperate? Because they are. They know it and so do you,
05:03if it can be admitted. Or more fake news from CNN. Reports that the Trump administration
05:10underestimated the Iran war's impact on the Strait of Hormuz. Patently ridiculous, of course. For
05:17decades, Iran has threatened shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. This is always what they do, hold the
05:23Strait hostage. CNN doesn't think we thought of that. It's a fundamentally unserious report. The sooner
05:32David Ellison takes over that network, the better. Another example of a fake headline that I saw
05:40yesterday, war widening. Here's a real headline for you for an actual patriotic press. How about
05:48Iran shrinking, going underground? You see, Iran's leaders are hiding in bunkers and moving into
05:54civilian areas. The only thing that is widening is our advantage. Not to mention our golf partners
06:01stepping up even more now going on the offense and have always been with us on the defense with
06:07collective and integrated air defenses. Our will, it is unshakable. Our options maximized and our
06:18capabilities still building. We're going up, they're going down. As I said from the start,
06:26President Trump holds the cards. He'll determine the pace, the tempo, and the timing of this conflict.
06:33His hand firmly on the wheel, as well as on the throttle setting. America first, peace through strength,
06:40in action. From day one, as our nation expects and the president demands, our warriors have fought
06:48with lethality, precision, and rapid innovation. In fact, today will be, yet again, the highest volume
06:55of strikes that America has put over the skies of Iran and Tehran. The number of sorties and number of
07:00bomber pulses. The highest yet. Ramping up and only up. And quantity has a quality of its own as we
07:08continue to ramp up. Every tool of AI, of cyber, of space, EW, counter UAS, you name it, we're employing
07:14it. Blinding, confusing, and deceiving our enemy. Because we know who the good guys are here.
07:23And the American people do too. And that makes my job simple. I serve God, the troops, the country,
07:32the Constitution, and the President of the United States. And answer only to those. All in service
07:39of victory on the battlefield. And the military objectives that we've laid out from day one.
07:45Defeat the missiles, missile launchers, and defense industrial base, which I laid out today. Defeat
07:51the Navy. And deny Iran the ability to have a nuclear weapon. Clear, decisive, achievable.
07:59And Admiral Cooper knows, the SEMCOM commander who we spent a couple of hours with last night.
08:05That in pursuit of those objectives, we have his back in every way. His commanders know that. And so
08:11do the troops in harm's way. Admiral Cooper gets what he needs. The assets, the authorities, the munitions,
08:17you name it. We will stop at nothing to win. War is hell. War is chaos. And as we saw
08:27yesterday with
08:27the tragic crash of our KC-135 tanker, bad things can happen. American heroes, all of them. And as I
08:39have with all of them, as we have, we will greet those heroes at Dover and their sacrifice will only
08:45recommit us to the resolve of this mission. But war in this context and in pursuit of peace
08:52is necessary. Which is why each day on bended knee, we continue to appeal to heaven,
08:57to almighty God's providence, to watch over and give special skill and confidence to our leaders
09:03and to our warriors. To those warriors who this nation prays for every single day, I hear from all
09:10of you out there who pray for them every day. Stay on bended knee and pray for them. I continue
09:16to say to
09:17them, Godspeed. May the Lord bless you and keep you and keep going. Mr. Chairman, over to you.
09:24Thank you, Mr. Secretary. And good morning, ladies and gentlemen. And thank you for joining us today.
09:28Before I start with an update, I also want to address the tragic loss of our KC-135 refueling
09:34aircraft yesterday. The incident occurred over friendly territory in western Iraq while the crew
09:40was on a combat mission. And again, was not the result, as CENTCOM has said, was not the result of
09:45hostile or friendly fire. We're still treating this as an active rescue and recovery operation.
09:51As CENTCOM announced this morning, four airmen have been recovered and the Air Force and U.S. Central
09:56Command will provide updates as information becomes available. Please keep these brave airmen, their
10:02families, friends and units in your thoughts in the coming hours and days. Our service members make
10:09an incredible sacrifice to go forward and do the things that the nation asks of them. It's a reminder of
10:15the true cost of the dedication and commitment of the Joint Force. We're also aware of a fire on board
10:21the USS Gerald R. Ford. We're thinking about the crew there who are injured in the fire. We believe
10:26and hope that everyone will be okay. And we're grateful for that. And for any further questions on
10:31that, we'd refer you to NAVCENT or to the Navy. This morning, we enter the 13th day of Operation Epic
10:39Fury,
10:39and we continue to make progress towards our military objectives. As the Secretary said,
10:44today will be our heaviest day of kinetic fires across the operating area. CENTCOM continues to
10:49attack ballistic missile and drone capabilities so that they are no longer a threat to U.S. forces,
10:55our bases or our partners. They're continuing to destroy the Iranian Navy to ensure freedom of
11:01navigation. And this means going after Iran's mine lane capability and destroying their ability to attack
11:08commercial vessels. And we're targeting their defense industrial base so they cannot rebuild
11:13the capabilities that can harm America's interests or our partners in the future.
11:19As Admiral Cooper said in his update on Wednesday, Iranian combat power continues to decline
11:26as a result of the continued strikes, as the Secretary talked about. We've attacked over 6,000 targets,
11:33and our strike packages continue to launch every hour. And we've maintained an unprecedented number of
11:39sorties up overhead of Iran. CENTCOM is now persistently over the enemy. And a result,
11:46we've seen a reduction in missile and one-way attack fires, as the Secretary said. In less than two weeks,
11:52we've rendered the Iranian Navy combat ineffective and continue to attack naval vessels, including
11:59all of their Soleimani-class warships, which were armed with anti-ship missiles and anti-aircraft weapons.
12:05We've made progress, but Iran still has the capability to harm friendly forces and commercial shipping.
12:11And our work on this effort continues. But I want to make something clear. The only thing preventing
12:18commercial traffic and flow through the straits right now, which there is some through the straits,
12:23is Iran. They are the belligerents here holding the straits closed, although there is some traffic
12:30moving through there. We've made it a priority to target Iran's mine-laying enterprise, their mine
12:36layers, the naval bases and depots, in addition to the missiles that could influence the straits.
12:41And CENTCOM continues to attack those efforts. And we continue to make progress on the industrial
12:47base to include factories, weapons, warehouses that are stored in. And we will continue to do so in the
12:54coming days, especially today. Now, as I often do, I want to share a little bit about our incredible
13:00joint force. Today, I'm going to talk about our incredible artillery force comprised of American
13:06soldiers and Marines who've been sinking ships, destroying depots, and launching army tactical missile
13:12systems, or ATACMS, precision strike missiles, or PRISMS, and high mobility rocket systems, or HIMARS.
13:20From outside Iran, our army and marine artillery members are hitting sites that Iran relies on to
13:26project power beyond their borders and protect our deployed. In just the first 13 days of this
13:33operation, our artillery forces have made history. They fired the first precision strike missiles ever used
13:39in combat reaching deep into enemy territory. They've used army ATACMS to sink multiple ships, including a
13:46submarine. And they've done all of this with the precision and determination that comes from relentless
13:53training and trust in each other and in their weapon systems. Yesterday, I had the incredible honor and
14:00privilege of speaking with some of our young soldiers from the 3rd Battalion 27th Field Artillery Regiment out of
14:07Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The unit and the crew that fired the first precision strike missiles.
14:14The soldiers I met came from all over this great country, New York, Texas, Delaware, California.
14:20One had been in the army only six months and been in the unit for two months and was already
14:27deployed.
14:28He was the youngest at 20, but you would not know it from the way that they talked about their
14:35mission.
14:35The others were 22 and 28 years old. They spoke with the sense of calm, pride, purpose and clarity
14:43that tells you clearly they understand the weight of what they're doing and the people who depend on
14:49them. I asked them to walk me through a fire mission. I asked not just what they do, but what
14:55they feel,
14:56especially those first crew members on this particular mission. These soldiers basically
15:02live in these vehicles behind us. The cab very tight. Two folks sit next to each other with the crew
15:08commander behind them. It's jammed inside there with their personal weapons and kit.
15:13And they sit and wait for a fire mission. And when that fire mission comes, they close the armored doors
15:20and begin to program the systems. They then throw three simple toggle switches and 10 to 15 feet behind them,
15:28a rocket motor ignites. And the round is headed downrange to do the nation's work.
15:34I asked these youngsters, these young, awesome Americans, what does that feel like? And one of
15:39them just looked at me and said, it's awesome. No drama, no hesitation in the middle of the day,
15:46in the middle of the night, in the sun, the rain, in the snow, flawless execution. Their marine counterparts
15:52are out there doing the same thing every night. Same work, same pressure, same expectations, same results.
16:00And we hand tremendous and enormous responsibility to these young Americans. And they carry it with a
16:07level of maturity, grit, professionalism and tenacity that makes me incredibly proud to be a part of their
16:14joint force. Their parents and families would and should be incredibly proud. And their leaders and I
16:23trust them to do the deeds that they must do in difficult circumstances every single time.
16:29I also want to touch today a moment, I want to touch for a moment today on their leadership.
16:35These young Americans are led by extraordinary young leaders out at the tactical edge. Yesterday,
16:43the battery commander and her NCO were there with this crew on the same video screen. The two of them
16:49hardly said a word, they didn't have to. In their eyes, and in particular the commander's eyes, you could
16:55see the quiet trust and confidence she had in these soldiers and the rest of their battery. It came through
17:01loud and clear and we appreciate their leadership. When I asked these soldiers yesterday, what is it that
17:07you need from the secretary and I, they looked at each other, paused for a moment and looked back at
17:11me and
17:12said more round sir. It was awesome. So thank you to those soldiers and marines out on the firing line
17:19supporting our mission and thank you to their families. Our joint force will continue today to
17:24deliver dynamic fires against the enemy from the land, sea and air. We remain deeply grateful for their
17:32service and for the third time today I'll mention that today will be our busiest day. This mission remains
17:38complex, dangerous and difficult and every service member has a family waiting for them to return home
17:44and I want to thank all of the families today who are supporting their deployed forces and those doing
17:51the work here in the states. On a personal note today, I also want to thank the joint staff and
17:56the team
17:57that I have the pleasure of working with, some of them right here in this room. They are working 24
18:03hours a day
18:04to deliver the options that we must to the secretary and to the president. Today as I close, I ask
18:12that we
18:13remember our fallen and those participating in the recovery operations to bring home our lost KC-135 crew,
18:20that we keep those service members and their families in their thoughts and prayers. Those are very, very,
18:27very tough days when that knock comes on the door for people on both sides of the door. Again, thank
18:34you
18:34to our deployed, thank you to our fallen and to their families and to the joint force. Subscribe to One
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18:43and never miss an update. Download the One India app now.
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