Hegseth says Iran has ‘long-range strike capabilities’
Army Secretary Pete Hegseth said Iran has “long-range strike capabilities,” adding that the best defense is a good offense.
The U.S. offensive against Iran began on Saturday, Feb. 28, in a “massive and overwhelming” offensive that involved thousands of U.S. military personnel, hundreds of aircraft and two aircraft carriers, hitting more than 1,000 targets across the country, the top Pentagon commander told reporters.
Gen. Dan Kaine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a March 2 press conference that the military received the “final go-to order” from President Donald Trump the previous day, Feb. 27, at 3:38 p.m.
Trump’s message to the military: “Operation Epic Fury has been authorized. There will be no cancellation. Good luck,” Kaine said, using the Pentagon’s name for the attack.
Kaine said the U.S. military’s first action was a cyberattack aimed at disrupting Iran’s communications and coordination capabilities.
He said the attack officially began at 9:45 a.m. local time in the Iranian capital, Tehran, and was triggered by a “trigger event” carried out by the Israeli military.
He said more than 100 U.S. military aircraft, including fighter jets, tanker planes used for aerial refueling, and electronic attack aircraft, took off in a “single synchronous wave.” A US Navy ship fires a Tomahawk missile, attacking southern Iran. In an operation similar to the Trump administration’s first attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June, B-2 bombers took off from the U.S. mainland and flew for 37 hours round trip, dropping more “penetrators” on underground facilities also in the south of Iran. Cain said the U.S. achieved “more than 1,000 goals in the first 24 hours.”
“This was the culmination of months and even years of careful planning,” he said.
Four Americans were killed in Iran’s counterattack, and U.S. ally Kuwaiti forces accidentally shot down three U.S. fighter jets. Iran launched a massive retaliatory missile and drone barrage against U.S. allies across the Middle East, targeting numerous U.S. military bases and tens of thousands of soldiers across the region. Some crashed into civilian airports and hotels. Kaine said Patriot and THAAD air defense systems intercepted “hundreds of ballistic missiles.”
The military confirmed the deaths of four U.S. service members, Pentagon Secretary Pete Hegseth said, saying they were killed when an Iranian missile penetrated air defenses and hit a “tactical operations center.” U.S. Central Command said the fourth American who died was “seriously injured” and succumbed to his injuries on Monday, March 2.
Kuwaiti military accidentally shot down three U.S. F-15E fighter jets late Sunday, March 1. The six U.S. service members who ejected from the plane were “safely recovered” and are in “stable condition,” U.S. Central Command said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the death toll in Iran is rapidly increasing. Iranian state media reported that 555 people have been killed since the US and Israeli attacks began.
Asked how long the attacks would last, Mr. Hegseth and Mr. Kane did not respond. The aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford, which President Donald Trump sent to the Caribbean in January to help capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, has arrived in the Middle East, joining the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. Cain said more tactical aviation units are flowing into the region. He added that combat capabilities are “exactly where we want them to be.”
“An effort of this magnitude will include casualties,” said Hegseth, who heads the newly renamed Department of the Army.
