US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday said the US would again launch “the largest strike package yet” in the ongoing US-Israeli campaign in Iran, and said Israel’s recent strike on an Iranian gas field was a “warning.”

“To date, we’ve struck over 7,000 targets across Iran and its military infrastructure,” Hegseth said at a Pentagon briefing. “That is not incremental. That is overwhelming force applied with precision. And again, today will be the largest strike package yet, just like yesterday was.”

Iran continued launching strikes at Israel on Thursday, without any injuries reported in nine salvos as of the afternoon. The Islamic Republic also continued its missile fire at targets in the Gulf. Meanwhile, Israel said it destroyed several Iranian navy vessels in its first-ever strike on northern Iran.

Trump has said Wednesday’s South Pars gas field strike was uncoordinated with the US, and that Israel would not hit Iran’s gas sites again, but that the US would if Iran kept up attacks on Gulf gas fields.

US sources told The Times of Israel and other media outlets that Washington had approved the strike. Neither Hegseth nor US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, who spoke alongside him at the Pentagon, repeated Trump’s claim.

Speaking at the Pentagon, Hegseth called the strike on South Pars “a warning” and urged Iran to stop its retaliatory strikes on energy sites across the Gulf, which have sent oil prices soaring.

“Iran has weaponized energy for decades. Israel clearly sent a warning, and [Trump] has made it clear, very clear. Iran knows when you hit Kharg Island and you hit military capabilities on Karg Island — which is the only thing we hit — we can hold anything at issue,” Hegseth said, referring to the key Iranian oil hub that was struck by the US over the weekend.

Israel and the US launched their campaign against Iran on February 28 in a bid to destabilize the regime and destroy its nuclear and ballistic missile capacities. Iran has responded with missile and drone strikes across the region, and its proxies in Iraq and Lebanon have also carried out attacks, with Israel launching massive airstrikes in Lebanon in response to Hezbollah’s rocket barrages.

Despite the widening of the conflict, Hegseth projected confidence that the US would achieve its goals.

“We’re winning decisively and on our terms,” Hesgseth said, responding to concerns in US media that the conflict could turn into a “forever war,” saying that “nothing could be further from the truth,” and calling the operation “laser-focused.”

He warned that “the last job anyone in the world wants right now” would be “senior leader for the IRGC, or Basij,” calling them “temp jobs.” The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and its repressive volunteer Basij militia, have been among the main targets of the US-Israeli campaign.

Hegseth said the war’s objectives remain to “destroy missiles, launchers, and Iran’s defense industrial base so they cannot rebuild. Destroy their navy, and [ensure] Iran never gets a nuclear weapon.”

Meanwhile, he said, Washington was “taking countermeasures” amid ongoing internet blackouts in Iran in order to communicate with the Iranian people and “certain audiences” during the campaign against the country.

“As far as the internet, we’re watching the regime try to tighten its grip as much as possible,” he said.

“We’re obviously taking countermeasures, many of which we can’t talk about here, to ensure that messaging is delivered, not just to the Iranian people at large, but to the right audiences, certain audiences that need to hear certain things about what their fate might look like or what their choices are,” he said, without elaborating.

He also criticized “AI images” and “fake reports, fake images,” he said were being put out by the regime in an effort to “make it look like something’s happening when the exact opposite is.”

AI images and videos alleging fictitious developments such as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s assassination, and heavy damage from strikes in Israel, have been widely circulated online since the conflict began.

Hegseth described Israel as “an incredible and capable partner” from the outset of the conflict, and adds that Gulf countries – including the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia “and others” — have “stepped up incredibly.”

“Iran’s sort of reckless attempt to strike civilian infrastructure and other things has brought countries who maybe would have not been as all-in as they are today squarely into our orbit,” he said.

IAF strikes Iranian Navy vessels at port city on Caspian sea

Overnight Israeli strikes at the Iranian port city of Bandar Anzali and in the Caspian Sea destroyed several vessels of the Iranian Navy, as well as naval infrastructure, the IDF said Thursday, publishing footage of the attacks.

According to the IDF, the strikes destroyed an Iranian Navy corvette, four missile boats, several auxiliary ships and guard boats, along with a command center and a shipyard. Some of the vessels were located at the port, while others were out at sea.

Israeli airstrikes hit Iranian Navy vessels and infrastructure at the Iranian port city of Bandar Anzal and in the Caspian Sea, March 18, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)

The military said the missile boats were targeted to cause a blow to the Iranian military, despite the fact that they do not pose a direct threat to Israel from the Caspian Sea.

Still, the IDF added that the missile boats have anti-aircraft capabilities and could pose a threat to Israeli aircraft operating over Iran, as well as anti-submarine capabilities.

Preparations for the strike only began days ago, and it was not among the military’s initial bank of targets in Iran. Researchers at the Naval Intelligence Division located the ships and worked with the Military Intelligence Directorate and the Israeli Air Force to plan the strike.

It marks the first time that the IDF struck in that area of Iran, both in this war and the previous rounds of conflict, according to the military.

The IDF also said Thursday that an Mi-17 helicopter was destroyed in a strike at Sanandaj Airport in western Iran’s Hamedan the previous day.

“The IDF continues to deepen the damage to the military capabilities of the Revolutionary Guards’ air force and expand air superiority in western Iran,” the military said of the strike carried out yesterday, adding that it came as a result of “real-time intelligence,” the army said.

A member of the Basij force was also killed in an Israeli airstrike on western Iran on Wednesday, the IDF said on Thursday, attaching footage of the strike.

הפגיעה בכוחות הבסיג׳ נמשכת גם במערב איראן: צפו בתיעוד מחיסול חייל מיחידת הבסיג' בעת ששמר בעמדת כניסה באחד מבסיסי היחידה Advertisement if(typeof rgb_remove_toi_dfp_banner != "function" || !rgb_remove_toi_dfp_banner("#336x260_InContent_1")){ window.tude = window.tude || { cmd: [] }; tude.cmd.push(function() { if(navigator.userAgent.indexOf("rgbmedia-app") > -1){ tude.setDeviceType("mobile"); } tude.refreshAdsViaDivMappings([ { divId: '336x260_InContent_1', baseDivId: '336x260_InContent_1', } ]); }); } לאורך מבצע "שאגת הארי", צה"ל מנהל מאמץ סדור ומתמשך לפגיעה בכוחות יחידת הבסיג' ובתשתיותיו. אתמול (ד'), חיל האוויר זיהה ותקף חייל מיחידת הבסיג' בעת שפעל בעמדת… pic.twitter.com/NSz8EBW0Db — צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) March 19, 2026

הפגיעה בכוחות הבסיג׳ נמשכת גם במערב איראן: צפו בתיעוד מחיסול חייל מיחידת הבסיג' בעת ששמר בעמדת כניסה באחד מבסיסי היחידה

לאורך מבצע "שאגת הארי", צה"ל מנהל מאמץ סדור ומתמשך לפגיעה בכוחות יחידת הבסיג' ובתשתיותיו.

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— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) March 19, 2026

According to the IDF, the Basij soldier was stationed at a guard post at one of the force’s bases.

Iran fires nine salvos at Israel; no one wounded

Iran fired eight separate salvos of ballistic missiles at Israel between midnight and noon on Thursday, but there were no reports of damage or injuries as a direct result. Another salvo followed in the afternoon.

The attacks set off warning sirens in northern and central Israel, and in the Jerusalem area, sending millions to bomb shelters. They came the morning after cluster munitions fired by Iran killed a 30-year-old foreign worker in central Israel and four Palestinian women in the southern West Bank.

The Health Ministry reported Thursday that over the previous 24 hours, 177 injured people had been taken to hospitals as a result of the war. The ministry did not give a breakdown of the causes of injuries, and some might have been sustained by people trying to reach shelter rather than as a direct result of missile fire from Iran or rocket fire from Lebanon.

Among those treated in hospitals, one was in critical condition, two were in moderate condition, and 167 were in good condition. One person had been treated for anxiety.

The ministry also said that since the beginning of the war, on February 2, 3,924 people have been admitted to hospitals, 74 of whom were currently hospitalized.

Iranian attack on massive Qatari gas field triggers more price hikes

Global oil and natural gas prices soared in the wake of Iran’s attack Wednesday on the Qatari gas field Ras Laffan — the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) hub — which was one several energy sites targeted by Iran after Israel hit South Pars. Iran also hit oil and gas facilities in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia were also hit by Iranian strikes on Thursday morning.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose to $116.38 per barrel, up from under $73 per barrel on the eve of the war. The European TTF benchmark for natural gas prices traded 24% higher.

The attacks added to concerns that energy crisis triggered by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz to tanker traffic may be longer and more extensive than feared, with lasting damage to oil and gas production.

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit condemned Iran’s attacks warned against the “dangerous escalation” caused by targeting oil and gas facilities in the Gulf, according to a statement.

The Arab League chief reiterated his full support to Gulf nations in “all measures they undertake to confront these malicious Iranian attacks, and their right to safeguard the security of their citizens and the integrity of their facilities.”

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1 Senior UAE official says Iranian attacks will drive Gulf countries into Israeli arms

2 Despite FBI warning, Iran likely can’t strike US homeland with military drones

3 Israel strikes major Iranian gas field; Tehran vows to hit Gulf energy sites in kind

4 Op-edRegimes are ousted from within, but the US and Israel must not let up until that happens in Iran

5 AnalysisAmid claims of looming interceptor shortage, experts dismiss alarm over finite defenses

6 Iranian cluster bombs kill foreign worker in Israel, 4 Palestinian women in West Bank

7 Israel says Iran’s intelligence minister Esmaeil Khatib killed in Tehran strike

8 Passenger limits reimposed on outbound flights after private jets hit by missile debris

2026 US-Israel war with Iran

IDF Israel Defense Forces

IAF Israeli Air Force

US Department of Defense

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