Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said the United States has “only just begun” in the Iran conflict, where President Donald Trump will have a “heck of a say” in its next supreme leader.
The U.S. and Israel began striking Iran over the weekend, killing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior officials.
“In just the last 72 hours, America’s bomber force has struck nearly 200 targets deep inside of Iran, including around Tehran,” Admiral Brad Cooper, who leads the U.S. Central Command, said in a press conference in Tampa Thursday alongside Hegseth.
It’s unclear how long the conflict in Iran will continue, but, according to the Pentagon chief, the U.S. is not planning on ending “Operation Epic Fury” anytime soon.
“We have only just begun to fight and fight decisively,” Hegseth told reporters Thursday. “If you think you’ve seen something, just wait.”
Another uncertainty amid the conflict is what the future of Iran will look like now that its leader is dead.
“I think the president’s having a heck of a say in who runs Iran, given the ongoing operation we have,” Hegseth said.
Earlier Thursday Trump said he must be involved in the selection of Iran’s next leader, and made his disdain known for the reported frontrunner Mojtaba Khamenei, the late supreme leader’s son.
“They are wasting their time. Khamenei’s son is a lightweight. I have to be involved in the appointment,” Trump told Axios. “Khamenei’s son is unacceptable to me. We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran.”
Ultimately, it will be Iran’s Assembly of Experts, a body of 88 senior officials, who will appoint the next leader.
Cooper said more than 50,000 U.S. service members are fighting in the mission to “eliminate Iran’s ability to threaten Americans.” Six U.S. service members were killed in an Iranian drone strike in Kuwait.
The commander said the U.S. strikes against the Iranian Navy have “intensified” with more than 30 ships sunk or destroyed.
“Our combined joint forces have relentlessly destroyed Iran’s air defenses over the past few days, and they’ve continued hunting for more systems to kill,” Cooper said.
The commander said the U.S. military is working to “systemically dismantle Iran’s missile production capability for the future.”
When Trump won the 2024 election, he promised not to start a war, saying in his victory speech, “I’m going to stop wars.”
But now the U.S. is facing an international conflict with no end in sight, and Americans are not happy about it.
A Hart Research Associates/Public Opinion Strategies poll conducted for NBC News found 54 percent of American voters disapprove of Trump’s handling of the situation, and when asked specifically whether the U.S. should have taken military action against Iran, 52 percent said it should not have.
In a CNN poll published on Monday, 6 in 10 respondents said that the president lacked “a clear plan for handling the situation” while a slightly higher amount, 62 percent, said that he should get congressional approval before launching further strikes.
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