War Secretary Pete Hegseth declared a “decisive military victory” in Iran on Wednesday after President Donald Trump agreed to a two-week truce.
Hegseth made the comments during a press conference at the Pentagon, telling reporters that the War Department had succeeded in decimating Iran’s military capabilities.
“This morning, a big day for world peace. Iran wants it to happen. They’ve had enough. Operation Epic Fury was a historic and overwhelming victory on the battlefield. A capital V,” Hegseth said.
“In less than 40 days, one of our combatant commands…CENTCOM, using less than 10% of America’s total combat power, dismantled one of the world’s largest militaries,” he continued. “The world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism proved utterly incapable of defending itself, its people or its territory.
“We utilized just a fraction of our strength, and Iran suffered a devastating military defeat. Together with our Israeli partners. America’s military achieved every single objective on plan, on schedule, exactly as laid out from day one,” he said.
Hegseth went on to say that Iran had been “obsessed” with attacks on the USS Abraham Lincoln, firing hundreds of missiles and drones as the vessel.
“Every single one of those shots easily shot down, miles and miles away from the Abe Lincoln. They were blowing ammo into Fantasy land,” Hegseth said.
Trump agreed to a two-week truce with Iran on Tuesday night, saying Iran had agreed to open the Strait of Hormuz while wider negotiations continue.
U.S. troops will remain in the region to enforce the ceasefire as talks are ongoing.
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In a Truth Social post early Wednesday, Trump suggested Iran was ready to reach a peace agreement and said the U.S. would help manage traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.
“A big day for World Peace! Iran wants it to happen, they’ve had enough! Likewise, so has everyone else! The United States of America will be helping with the traffic buildup in the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump wrote. “There will be lots of positive action! Big money will be made. Iran can start the reconstruction process.”
Trump said the U.S. will be “loading up with supplies of all kinds, and just ‘hangin’ around’ in order to make sure that everything goes well.” He added, “I feel confident that it will.”
“Just like we are experiencing in the U.S., this could be the Golden Age of the Middle East!!!” Trump added.
Trump later referenced a 15-point peace agreement the U.S. is negotiating for. Iran has previously proposed a 10-point plan.
Fox News’ Michael Sinkewicz contributed to this report.
