Hegseth leaves Iran war’s timeline in Trump’s hands

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has narrowed the U.S.’s objectives in Iran to three, scrapping President Donald Trump’s recent calls for “unconditional surrender” and a “great and acceptable leader” to replace the assassinated Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 

The U.S. military is entering day 11 of its campaign to destroy Iranian missile capabilities, destroy the Iranian navy and “permanently deny Iran nuclear weapons forever,” Hegseth said at a Tuesday press briefing at the Pentagon. 

Asked about the White House’s quickly shifting timelines—Trump said on Monday that “the war is very complete”—his defense secretary hedged.

“So it’s not for me to posit whether it’s the beginning, the middle, or the end,” Hegseth said. “That’s his, and he’ll continue to communicate that.”

The war isn’t “endless, not protracted, we’re not allowing mission creep,” he said, adding that Tuesday will be the “most intense” day of strikes inside Iran yet.

So far, the U.S. has hit more than 5,000 targets, including dozens of 2,000-pound bombs dropped on underground missile launchers, said Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“We also have struck several one-way drone factories to get at the heart of their autonomous capability,” Caine said at the press conference. “And of course, alongside our regional partners along the southern flank, continue to execute intercepts against one way attack drones using fighters and attack helicopters.”

Iranian ballistic missile attacks are down 90 percent and drone attacks down 83 percent, Caine said, giving same figures as U.S. Central Command boss Adm. Brad Cooper gave at a press conference last Thursday.

Asked about Israel’s strikes on Iranian oil facilities, Hegseth said, “that wasn’t our necessary objective,” but added that Israel is not leading the U.S. deeper into war.

“The president has made clear to those concerns that we’re not getting pulled in any direction,” Hegseth said. “We’re leading. The president is leading. He’s determining where we want to go, what the outcome will be, what the end state is, with a very keen eye.”

After Trump accused the Iranian military Monday of using a Tomahawk missile to strike a girl’s school on Feb. 28, Hegseth reiterated that the U.S. is investigating the incident.

“No nation takes more precautions to ensure there’s never targeting of civilians than the United States of America,” he said.

However, Hegseth last year gutted a congressionally-mandated Pentagon office that sought to reduce civilian harm in U.S. air strikes, created in response to thousands of civilian deaths during the campaign against ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

“From the boat strikes in the Caribbean, where every single strike is assessed, to this campaign here, no nation in history of warfare has ever attempted in every way possible to avoid civilian casualties, and frankly, that’s a point that just isn’t appreciated enough,” Hegseth said.

However, experts have questioned the legality of the administration’s attacks on suspected drug smuggling boats, determining that the people on board are indeed civilians until Congress authorizes military action against suspected drug cartel activity. 

Asked what the administration’s next steps will be after achieving its goals in Iran, Hegseth offered no specifics about Iran’s future leadership or any future deals that would control its ability to rebuild its conventional or nuclear weapons capabilities. 

“Ultimately, the aftermath is going to be in America’s interests,” he said.