Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth stepped up to the podium Tuesday morning and delivered a message that probably made a few folks in Tehran very uncomfortable — and frankly, it should.
Because according to Hegseth, the United States and Israel are turning the pressure up even more.
In fact, he said Tuesday would mark the most intense day of strikes against Iran since the start of the joint military campaign known as Operation Epic Fury.
Let that sink in for a second.
“Today will be yet again our most intense day of strikes inside Iran,” Hegseth told reporters. “The most fighters, the most bombers, the most strikes, intelligence more refined and better than ever.”
And while the U.S. military is ramping up its operations, something interesting is happening on the other side of the battlefield.
Iran appears to be running out of steam.
According to Hegseth, the last 24 hours saw Iran launch the lowest number of missiles since the conflict began, despite having the capability to fire more. In other words, the regime that has spent decades threatening the United States and its allies is suddenly discovering that talking tough and surviving a real military campaign are two very different things.
Joining Hegseth at the Pentagon briefing was General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who laid out just how massive this operation has become.
Since the campaign began, more than 5,000 Iranian targets have been hit.
That’s not a typo.
Five. Thousand.
Caine said U.S. Air Force bombers have been dropping 2,000-pound GPS-guided bunker-busting bombs designed specifically to destroy deeply buried missile launch systems — the kind Iran built underground because they assumed nobody could touch them.
Turns out, they were wrong.
“On day 10 of Operation Epic Fury, we are winning,” Hegseth said. “With an overwhelming and unrelenting focus on our objectives.”
