“I stand before you today with one unmistakable message about Operation Epic Fury: America is winning decisively, devastatingly and without mercy,” Hegseth told reporters at the Pentagon. He added, “We are only four days into this, and the results have been incredible — historic, really. … Only the United States could lead this [mission]. … But, when you add the Israeli Defense Forces — a devastatingly capable force — the combination is sheer destruction for our radical Islamist Iranian adversaries.”
Caine said the joint U.S.–Israeli mission focuses on three main objectives aimed at weakening Iran’s military capabilities. The campaign seeks to eliminate Iran’s ballistic missile systems, destroy its naval forces and ensure the country cannot rebuild combat power or obtain nuclear weapons.
According to Caine, the operation has already significantly reduced Iranian offensive activity. He reported an 86 percent overall drop in Iran’s ballistic missile launches since the first day of fighting, including a 23 percent decrease in the past 24 hours, along with a 73 percent reduction in one-way attack drone launches compared with the early phase of the conflict.
Hegseth said U.S. and Israeli forces are also moving toward full dominance of Iranian airspace within days. “I hope all the folks watching understand what ‘uncontested airspace’ and ‘complete control’ means: It means we will fly all day [and] all night … finding, fixing and finishing the missiles and defense industrial base of the Iranian military; finding and fixing their leaders and their military leaders; flying over Tehran … [with] Iranian leaders looking up and seeing only U.S. and Israeli air power every minute of every day, until we decide it’s over — and Iran will be able to do nothing about it,” he said.
Naval operations have also intensified across the region. U.S. Central Command reported that more than 20 Iranian naval vessels have been destroyed, including the sinking of an Iranian combatant ship in the Indian Ocean by a U.S. Navy fast-attack submarine.
Caine noted the strike marked the first time since 1945 that a U.S. submarine has sunk an enemy vessel using a Mark 48 torpedo. “I want to remind everybody that this is an incredible demonstration of America’s global reach. To hunt, find and kill an out-of-area deployer is something that only the United States can do at this type of scale,” he said.
Hegseth compared Iran’s current situation to a football team that has run out of planned plays. “But now that the game has started and the [U.S. and Israeli] defensive blitz is on, [Iran doesn’t] know what plays to call, let alone how to get in the huddle and call those plays,” he said.
The secretary added that many of Iran’s senior leaders were killed on the first day of the operation, limiting the military’s ability to coordinate a response. “This was never meant to be a fair fight, and it is not a fair fight. We are punching [the enemy] while they’re down, which is exactly how it should be,” Hegseth said, noting that Epic Fury has already deployed twice the air power used during the initial “shock and awe” phase of the 2003 Iraq war.
Officials said military operations will continue in the coming days as U.S. Central Command expands strikes against Iranian military infrastructure. “We are just getting started,” Hegseth said.
