Hegseth says Tuesday will be ‘most intense day’ of strikes inside Iran

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday morning that “today will be, yet again, our most intense day of strikes” against Iran. 

“The most fighters, the most bombers, the most strikes. Intelligence more refined and better than ever. So that’s on one hand,” Hegseth said during a press briefing at the Pentagon. “On the other hand, the last 24 hours have seen Iran fire the lowest number of missiles they’ve been capable of firing yet.”

The U.S. Central Command (Centcom) said in its Monday update that the U.S. military has hit more than 5,000 targets in Iran since the war started, including sinking or damaging more than 50 Iranian ships. 

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, emphasized three U.S. objectives in Iran: destroying Iranian ballistic missile and drone capability, striking “deeper into Iran’s military and industrial base” and continuing to decimate Iran’s navy to allow maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. 

The remarks from Hegseth and Caine come as Iran fired new attacks against Israel and Gulf nations on Tuesday amid the broadening conflict. The war has shaken oil markets and rattled the world economy. 

Hegseth said during the briefing Tuesday that Iran stands alone and is “badly losing.” 

The Pentagon chief claimed that Iran’s proxy groups in the region — Hezbollah, the Houthis in Yemen and Hamas — are “either broken, ineffective or on the sidelines.”

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