Washington, March 13 (UNI) US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday declared that American forces are conducting their "highest-ever volume of airstrikes against Iran," asserting that the country's military capability has been “dramatically degraded.”
On regional security, Hegseth said the only disruption in the Strait of Hormuz is caused by Iran and that one of the US’s primary objectives is to “destroy Iran’s navy… and ensure energy flows.” He added that taking out Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities will “ensure Iran gives up its nuclear capabilities and helps deny their nuclear capabilities.”
"Iran's military has been left largely combat ineffective following just over ten days of sweeping, coordinated operations conducted alongside Israel, a campaign he described as unlike anything the world has witnessed in modern warfare," he said.
The US is “dealing with” Iran’s attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and it is something that does not need to be worried about, Hegseth says, adding, "Their production lines, their military plants, their defence innovation centres; defeated. Iran’s leadership is in no better shape. Desperate and hiding, they’ve gone underground, cowering, that’s what rats do," he said.
Hegseth said Iran’s missile inventory is down 90% and one-way attack drones are down 95%, adding that “Iran does not have the ability to build any more weapons.”
Speaking at a press conference that underscored the escalating tempo of the conflict, Hegseth said Iran's missile inventory has been reduced by 90% and its one-way attack drone stockpile by as much as 95%, adding that Tehran "does not have the ability to build any more weapons."
He asserted a near-total dismantling of Iran's primary offensive capabilities in an extraordinarily compressed timeframe.
Hegseth framed the operation as an unprecedented convergence of military might, describing the U.S.-Israeli air campaign as a combination "unbeatable" by the world's two most powerful air Forces.
He said the two air forces have collectively struck over 15,000 targets inside Iran, surpassing 1,000 strikes per day, with Friday marking what he called the single highest-volume day of the campaign to date.
"Today will be, yet again, the highest volume of strikes that America has conducted over the skies of Iran and Tehran," Hegseth said. "The number of sorties and bomber pulses, the highest yet, ramping up and only up."
He also highlighted the deployment of advanced technologies in the campaign, stating that "every tool of AI, cyber, and space" was being employed to blind, confuse, and deceive Iranian forces , an unusually candid acknowledgment of the multi-domain nature of modern U.S. warfare.
General Dan Caine, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said that US forces alone had struck over 6,000 targets within Iran. He said operations are ongoing against ballistic missile infrastructure, drone production and storage facilities, and Iranian naval assets, which he said have been rendered "combat ineffective."Iran's Leadership "Hiding in Bunkers"
Hegseth paid tribute to U.S. service members killed in a KC-135 refuelling plane crash in Iraq, calling them “American heroes, all of them… Their sacrifice will only recommit us to the resolve of this mission.”
"Iran's leaders are hiding in bunkers and moving into civilian areas," Hegseth said. "They've gone underground, cowering, that's what rats do," he said.
On reports of a US strike that allegedly hit a girls' primary school in Minab, a city in southern Iran's Hormozgan Province, he denied that U.S. forces deliberately target civilians, saying, "We do not target civilians," before acknowledging that an investigation had been launched.
He said U.S. Central Command had designated "an investigating officer from outside the force, who will take as long as necessary to establish what happened in this incident," and pledged to make the findings public once available. The incident has drawn international attention and raised concerns among humanitarian organizations monitoring the conflict.
He also indicated that eliminating Iran's ballistic missile program is directly tied to a broader nonproliferation goal, saying that doing so would "ensure Iran gives up its nuclear capabilities and helps deny their nuclear capabilities" suggesting that denuclearisation remains a strategic endgame for the operation, even if not explicitly declared as a formal war objective.UNI AAB