Department of War chief Pete Hegseth said Monday the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran targeted Tehran’s long-running attacks on U.S. forces and interests worldwide, emphasizing the campaign’s focus on defeating military threats rather than engaging in nation-building.
“We didn’t start this war but under President Trump we’re finishing it,” Hegseth said, speaking publicly for the first time since Saturday’s joint strikes began.
Hegseth, alongside Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Dan Caine, outlined a campaign aimed at dismantling Iran’s missile and naval capabilities and stopping its nuclear ambitions, saying initial strikes eliminated command and control infrastructure, naval forces, ballistic missile sites, and intelligence operations, leaving the Iranian leadership unable to coordinate or respond effectively. “This is not a so-called regime change war, but the regime sure did change,” Hegseth said.
Caine described the mission as challenging and “gritty work,” warning of potential losses while affirming the operation’s goal was to protect U.S. forces and regional allies. Hegseth said the world is better off as a result of the operation and stressed that the U.S. will continue to act decisively against threats to national and allied security.
In a classified briefing Monday, senior White House officials told congressional stakeholders that initial U.S. strikes followed intelligence indicating Israel was preparing its own operation. Officials said the administration acted out of concern that Iran would retaliate against American forces in the region if Israel moved first.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration viewed the threat as imminent, stating, “The imminent threat was that we knew that if Iran was attacked—and we believed they would be attacked—that they would immediately come after us.” He added, “We were not going to sit there and absorb a blow before we responded. We went proactively in a defensive way to prevent them from inflicting higher damage.”
