Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Thursday that the United States is set to launch its “largest strike package yet” against Iran. This escalation comes as part of “Operation Epic Fury,” a joint military campaign with Israel that began on February 28, 2026.
Speaking at a press briefing, Hegseth detailed the massive scale of the air campaign noting that American forces have already “struck over 7,000 targets across Iran.”
He claimed that the ongoing operations have crippled the country’s military power, specifically noting that Iran’s submarine fleet has been effectively eliminated.
According to Hegseth, the strategy is working to dismantle the Iranian regime’s “defense industrial base.” He highlighted that the ability to manufacture new weapons has been “hit the hardest,” stating:
“Iran’s entire ballistic missile production capacity, every company that builds every component of those missiles, has been functionally defeated and destroyed.”
Despite the heavy damage, Hegseth refused to give a timeline for the end of the war insisting that the military is “very much on plan.”
Regarding the rising costs of the conflict, he told reporters, “Obviously it takes money to kill bad guys,” as the Pentagon prepares to ask Congress for an additional $200 billion in funding.
