President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" against Iran on Feb. 28, with massive joint U.S.-Israel strikes attack targeting military and government sites, officials said.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was among those killed in Tehran on the first day of strikes and his son Mojtaba Khamenei was chosen to succeed him. Iran is responding with missile and drone attacks targeting Israel, regional U.S. bases and multiple Gulf nations. Iran is also attempting to block some shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
Israel is also intensifying its long-running strike campaign against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.
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Iran has been a 'threat' to America 'across every theater,' Hegseth says
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Iran's goal for decades has been targeting Americans around the world, saying the regime, has been a "threat" to American "across every theater."
"They have been at war with us, whether we acknowledge it or not, for 47 years," Hegseth said.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth holds a briefing with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine at the Pentagon in Washington, March 19, 2026.
Evan Vucci/Reuters
"What President [Donald] Trump would not tolerate is a regime of that nature being closer and closer to nuclear capabilities, a capability they would have said they would want to use," Hegseth said.
Mar 19, 2026, 8:34 AM EDT
Hegseth declines to set timeline of ending operation, but says 'we're on plan'
Asked how close the U.S. is to achieving President Donald Trump's objectives in Iran, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth declined on Thursday to set a timeline.
"We wouldn't want to set a definitive time frame on that, but as we've said, we're on plan," Hegseth said.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine speak during a press briefing at the Pentagon, Wednesday, March 19, 2026, in Washington.
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"You hear a lot of noise about widening or new missions, or speculation about what we should or should not be doing. This is a clear set of objectives. The president has given us every capability we need to accomplish that. We've got the best in the world in uniform, executing it on the ground," Hegseth said.
Hegseth said the end of the war "will be at the president's choosing."
Mar 19, 2026, 8:31 AM EDT
Hegseth calls European allies 'ungrateful,' says they should be thanking Trump
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said during a press conference on Thursday that the world should be thanking President Donald Trump for fighting this war against Iran.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth holds a briefing with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine at the Pentagon in Washington, March 19, 2026.
Evan Vucci/Reuters
He broadly characterized America's European allies as "ungrateful," saying they should be among those thanking Trump for "the courage to stop this terror state from holding the world hostage with missiles while building or attempting to build a nuclear bomb."
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine speak during a news conference at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on March 19, 2026.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
Hegseth described Iran's current and former leaders, saying, "Their core industries [are] not steel or agriculture, tourism, their core industries are state-sponsored terrorism, proxy militias, underground networks, ballistic missiles and a violent, messianic Islamist ideology chasing some sort of apocalyptic end game."
"A regime like that refusing to abandon its nuclear ambitions is not just a regional problem, it's a direct threat to America, to freedom and to civilization the world, the Middle East, our ungrateful allies in Europe, even segments of our own press should be saying one thing to President Trump, 'Thank you,'" Hegseth said.
Mar 19, 2026, 8:21 AM EDT
US to hit Iran with 'largest strike package yet' on Thursday
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said the U.S. will be hitting Iran with its largest strike of the conflict on Thursday.
"Iran has funneled decades of state resources not to their people but into missiles and drones and proxies and buried facilities, but we are hunting them down, methodically, ruthlessly and overwhelmingly like no other military in the world can do," Hegseth said at a Pentagon briefing on Thursday.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks at a briefing at the Pentagon, March 19, 2026.
ABC News
Hegseth said over 7,000 targets across Iran and its military infrastructure have been struck since the conflict began with joint U.S. and Israeli strikes on Tehran on Feb. 28.
"Their ability to manufacture new ballistic missiles has probably taken the hardest hit of all ballistic missile attacks against our forces down 90% since the start of the conflict. Same with one way attack UAVs," Hegseth said on Thursday.
