The US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, has described the joint US-Israeli strikes in Iran as the 'most lethal and precise air power campaign in history', while refusing to establish a timeline for the operation and declining to rule out the deployment of ground troops.
Speaking publicly for the first time since the strikes began on Saturday, Hegseth said the US did not have 'boots on the ground' in Iran but would not speculate on future actions. President Donald Trump later told the New York Post he 'did not rule out' sending troops 'if they were necessary'.
Hegseth confirmed that four US service members were killed by a ballistic missile that penetrated allied air defences. He stated that US goals included destroying Iran's navy, ballistic missile production capacity, and its potential to develop a nuclear weapon, insisting the operation was 'not a democracy-building exercise' and 'not Iraq'.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio clarified that the attack was launched not because Iran was preparing a preemptive strike, but because the US feared retaliation after Israel assassinated Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The strikes, authorised by Trump on Friday, involved cyber and space operations to blind Iranian communications before over 100 aircraft launched from two carrier strike groups.
General Dan Caine, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the US had established local air superiority but warned that the operation would be difficult and 'not an overnight operation'. He added that further losses were expected. The conflict has rapidly expanded, with Iran launching missiles across nine countries and major shipping firms suspending operations through the Strait of Hormuz.
