The United States is winning the war against Iran, announced US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, quoted by "Reuters" and "The Guardian".
"Decisively, devastatingly and mercilessly", he emphasized.
However, Hegseth stressed that the US military can fight as long as necessary.
"Our air defenses and those of our allies have sufficient terrain to operate. We can easily keep this fight going for as long as necessary," he assured.
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Hegseth announced that the US and Israel will have "full control" over Iranian airspace in less than a week. His words contradicted Treasury Secretary Scott Besant's assertions that the United States already had such control.
"We will fly day and night, finding, repairing and completing the missiles and the defense industrial base of the Iranian military," he threatened at a press conference, promising "death and destruction from the sky, all day long".
Hegseth said the operation in Iran "was never intended to be a fair fight" and added that the United States "is "hitting them while they are on the ground". He reiterated that "more and bigger waves are coming" from air strikes and that the US is accelerating the operation, and Iran's military capabilities are "evaporating with every passing hour".
Hegseth confirmed that a US submarine sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean with a torpedo.
"Yesterday in the Indian Ocean, a US submarine sank an Iranian warship that it thought was safe in international waters. Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo - a quiet death. The first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War II. As in this war, while we are still the Department of Defense, we are fighting for victory," he stressed.
The minister also revealed that US forces have killed the leader of the unit that tried to assassinate US President Donald Trump.