Hegseth says most intense U.S. strikes coming

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday: “Today will again be the busiest day of our strikes against Iran.”

“Iran stands alone and they are losing badly on day 10 of Operation Epic Rage,” Hegseth said at a news conference at the Pentagon. Gen. Dan CaineChief of General Staff.

He said that over the past 24 hours, the United States had seen “Iran fire the lowest number of missiles it has ever fired.”

And Hegseth promised that the United States would send “the most fighters, the most bombers, the most strikes” to Iran on Tuesday.

Hegseth’s aggressive and confident comments were reminiscent of comments President Donald Trump made to reporters at his Miami-area golf club the day before.

Trump predicted the war would end “very soon” because the destruction of Iran’s military assets was occurring much faster than he expected when the US and Israel began their offensive on February 28.

He also warned Iran’s ruling regime not to cut off oil from world markets after the war.

“If Iran does anything to stop the flow of oil in the Strait of Hormuz, it will be hit 20 TIMES harder than it has already been hit by the United States,” Trump wrote late Monday night. In a Truth Social post.

Authorities in Abu Dhabi have confirmed that an Iranian drone strike caused a fire at the oil refinery at the Ruwais Industrial Complex, Hegseth said on Tuesday. No injuries were immediately reported.

In an interview with Fox News on Monday evening, Trump said he was “not happy” that Iran chose Mojtaba Khamenei as its new religious leader, replacing his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed at the beginning of the war.

“I don’t believe he can live in peace,” Trump said about Mojtaba Khamenei.

Trump also told Fox it was “possible” to meet with Iranian leaders.

“I heard they wanted to talk bad,” he said.

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