Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday stated the U.S. will finish its conflict with Iran “on our timeline” and “at our selecting” amid combined messaging from the administration on the timing of the operation and its final goal.
Hegseth notably declined to offer an extra evaluation on how for much longer the navy marketing campaign will final, saying Tuesday could be essentially the most intense day of strikes but within the 11-day conflict and that will probably be as much as President Donald Trump to resolve when the conflict is over.
“The president has set a really particular mission to perform, and our job is to unrelentingly ship that,” Hegseth advised reporters at a Pentagon press briefing.
“Now he will get to manage the throttle. He is the one deciding. He is the one elected on behalf of the American folks once we’re reaching these aims. And so, it is not for me to posit whether or not it is the start, the center or the tip. That is his. And he’ll proceed to speak that,” the protection secretary stated.
Secretary of Conflict Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Employees U.S. Air Pressure Gen. Dan Caine conduct a press briefing on Operation Epic Fury on the Pentagon, in Washington, March 10, 2026.
Petty Officer 1st Class Eric Brann/DoD
Trump himself has made conflicting statements on the matter.
Trump advised CBS Information on Monday afternoon that the conflict is “very full, just about.” However round that point, the Protection Division’s speedy response social media account posted on X: “We now have Solely Simply Begun to Struggle.”
ABC Information White Home Correspondent Selina Wang pressed Trump later Monday night at a information convention: “So, which is it and the way lengthy ought to People be making ready for this conflict to final for?”
“Nicely, I believe you possibly can say each. The start — it is the start of constructing a brand new nation, however they definitely, they haven’t any navy, they haven’t any air drive, they haven’t any anti-aircraft tools,” Trump stated.
“We might name it an incredible success proper now. As we depart right here, I might name it. Or we might go additional and we will go additional,” the president added.
Trump stated on Monday he thinks the conflict might be over “very quickly” and repeatedly known as the conflict a “short-term tour.”
Trump and his prime officers have outlined 4 aims of the navy offensive: destroy Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities; annihilate their Navy; guarantee they’ll by no means acquire a nuclear weapon; and forestall the Iranian regime from arming and funding terrorism outdoors its borders. However broader objectives on what comes after the combating ends stays unclear.
President Donald Trump speaks on the Republican Members Points Convention, March 9, 2026, at Trump Nationwide Doral Miami in Doral, Fla.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
Trump’s signaled he might declare the navy marketing campaign successful at any time, even because the Iranian regime stays in energy and Iran nonetheless maintains its enriched uranium stockpile. Trump’s repeatedly stated Iran can’t be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon — and over the weekend stated he was not ruling out the doable use of U.S. floor troops in Iran, however stated that they’d be used solely “for an excellent purpose.”
The president has additionally despatched combined messages on regime change, and the way concerned the U.S. intends to be in what new management will take management in Tehran.
Trump expressed disappointment within the number of Mojtaba Khamenei, the 56-year-old son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a U.S.-Israeli strike initially of the conflict.
In a telephone interview with ABC Information Chief White Home Correspondent Mary Bruce on Sunday, Trump stated the brand new chief is “going to must get approval from us.”
“If he doesn’t get approval from us he’s not going to final lengthy. We wish to make it possible for we don’t have to return each 10 years, once you don’t have a president like me that’s not going to do it,” Trump told ABC.
Hegseth, although, on Tuesday vowed the U.S. wouldn’t be concerned in “mission creep.”
“This isn’t limitless. It is not protracted,” Hegseth stated.
“This isn’t 2003. This isn’t limitless nation-building … These days are lifeless. As a substitute, we’re successful decisively with brutal effectivity, complete air dominance, and an unbreakable will to perform the president’s aims,” Hegseth stated.
