We are entering the third week of Operation Epic Fury, and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth offered an update during a Friday morning press conference.
ANNOUNCEMENT: pic.twitter.com/iIO7F3i5Kc
— Department of War 🇺🇸 (@DeptofWar) March 13, 2026
Secretary Hegseth began by saying the United States is "decimating" the Iranian regime and that the objectives of Operation Epic Fury remain unchanged.
"Never before has a modern, capable military — which Iran used to have — been so quickly destroyed and made combat ineffective," Hegseth said. "We said it would not be a fair fight and it has not been."
"Never before has a modern, capable military, which Iran used to have, been so quickly destroyed and made combat ineffective — devastated. We said it would not be a fair fight, and it has not been," says @SecWar on Operation Epic Fury.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 13, 2026
"Iran has no air defenses. Iran has no air… pic.twitter.com/UH9wTHLDib
Hegseth said more than 15,000 targets have been struck since the start of the war.
"Iran has no air defenses. Iran has no air force. Iran has no Navy," Hegseth said. "As the world is seeing, they are exercising sheer desperation in the Strait of Hormuz."
"We're on plan to defeat, destroy, and disable all of their military capabilities," Hegseth added, "at a pace that the world has never seen before."
"Soon, and very soon, all of Iran's defense companies will be destroyed," Hegseth reported, noted that every company that build's Iran's ballistic missiles have been destroyed. "Their production lines, their military plants, their defense innovation centers — defeated."
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Hegseth also said the new Supreme Leader is likely wounded and "disfigured." He noted the Ayatollah issued a statement, but no audio or video recording. "Why a written statement?" Hegseth asked the Ayatollah. "I think you know why."
.@SecWar: “We know the new, so-called (not so) Supreme Leader is wounded — and likely disfigured.” pic.twitter.com/3LtUBVimjp
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 13, 2026
"With every passing hour we know, and we know they know, that the military capabilities of their evil regime are crumbling," Hegseth continued.
Hegseth also attacked the press for their negative coverage of the war. "I know that everything is written intentionally," Hegseth said, calling CNN's coverage of the Strait of Hormuz "fake news."
"It's a fundamentally unserious report," Hegseth said of CNN's coverage.
"President Trump holds the cards," Hegseth reminded the media. "He'll determine the pace, the tempo, and the timing of this conflict."
"From day one, as our nation expects and our President demands, our warriors have fought with lethality and precision and rapid innovation," Hegesth said. "In fact today will be, yet again, the highest volume of strikes that American has put over the skies of Iran and Tehran."
"War is hell. War is chaos, and as we saw yesterday with the tragic crash of our KC-135 tanker, bad things can happen. American heroes, all of them," Hegseth said of the four service members killed in yesterday's crash in Iraq. "And as I have with all of them, as we have, we will greet those heroes at Dover and their sacrifice will only recomitt us to the resolve of this mission."
General Dan Caine said the crash occurred in friendly territory over Iraq and was not the result of hostile or friendly fire, and they're still treating it as a rescue and recovery effort as two of the crew have not been located yet.
"Please these keep these brave airmen, their families, friends, and units in your thoughts in the coming hours and days," General Caine said.
Editor's Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.
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