SecWar on Iran mission: ‘The only thing that is widening is our advantage’
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth went after the media on Friday for some outlets’ perspective on Operation Epic Fury, and also provided critical updates about the ongoing mission
by Summer Lane | March 13, 2026
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth projected a sense of confidence and focus when it comes to Operation Epic Fury, doubling down on his declarations of U.S. military superiority while addressing concerns about the Strait of Hormuz.
During a briefing at the Pentagon on Friday, Secretary Hegseth gave an update on OEF’s progress and offered information about the status of the new Iranian Supreme Leader, Mojtabe Khamenei. “Iran’s leadership is in no better shape. Desperate and hiding, they’ve gone underground, cowering: that’s what rats do. We know the new so-called not-so-Supreme Leader is wounded and likely disfigured,” Hegseth remarked, confirming reports that Khamenei had been badly wounded in air strikes over the past week.
Hegseth referenced Khamenei’s first statement that was published across Iranian airwaves this week, in which the Supreme Leader warned that he would squeeze the Strait of Hormuz. However, Khamenei has not been seen or heard from in public for days.
“There was no voice, and there was no video; it was a written statement,” Hegseth said. “He called for unity – apparently killing tens of thousands of protesters is his kind of unity. Iran has plenty of cameras and plenty of voice recorders. Why a written statement? I think you know why.”
Hegseth said on Friday that the United States was “decimating the Iranian regime,” and declared, “Never before has a modern, capable military, which Iran used to have, been so quickly destroyed and been made combat ineffective – devastated. We said it would not be a fair fight, and it has not been.”
He confirmed that, between the joint efforts of the United States and Israel, more than 15,000 enemy targets had been struck, amounting to more than 1,000 targets every day. He said the Iranian regime will look to the sky and see the “Stars and Stripes and the Star of David…the evil regime’s worst nightmare.”
Additionally, Hegseth revealed that Iranian missile volume is down 90 percent, and one-way drone attacks are now down by 95 percent. “They are exercising sheer desperation in the Strait of Hormuz,” Hegseth said. “…Don’t even worry about it.”
Key to this operation, Hegseth noted, was Iran’s incapacitation – their ability to build more weaponry in the future.
Hegseth also made a point to torch the press for what he seemed to believe was disingenuous reporting. “People look up at the TV, and they see banners, they see headlines…I know that everything is written intentionally,” he remarked, alluding to hypothetical headlines suggesting the war in the Middle East is cataclysmically escalating.
He also slammed outlets for suggesting that the Pentagon had not factored in the chokepoint that the Strait of Hormuz – a key channel for transporting 20 percent of the world’s oil – might have upon Operation Epic Fury.
“It’s a fundamentally unserious report,” Hegseth said.
“Another example of a fake headline that I saw yesterday: WAR WIDENING. ‘Here’s a real headline for you, for a real, patriotic press,” Hegseth remarked. “Iran Shrinking, Going Underground…the only thing that is widening is our advantage.”
Secretary Hegseth, along with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, confirmed that Friday would be the heaviest day of attacks against Iran so far. Hegseth described U.S. military action as “ramping UP and only up.”
He also alluded to the use of AI, cyber, and space weapons in this operation. “You name it, we’re employing it, blinding, confounding, and deceiving” the enemy.
“I serve God, the troops, the country, the Constitution, and the President of the United States and answer only to those, all in service of victory on the battlefield and the military objectives that we’ve laid out from day one,” Hegseth concluded.
