JERUSALEM (dpa-AFX) - As the Middle East war entering a sixth day with Israel and Iran launching new strikes, the top leadership at the Pentagon has claimed that with crushing dominance and devastating force, U.S. warfighters are systematically dismantling the Iranian regime's ability to ever again threaten the United States, its allies, and global security.
Wednesday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine provided an update from the Pentagon on the extraordinary progress of the U.S.- Israeli joint military strikes against Iran, codenamed, 'Operation Epic Fury.'
'America is winning decisively, devastatingly and without mercy,' Hegseth told the media.
'Thus far, Operation Epic Fury has delivered twice the air power of 'Shock and Awe' of Iraq in 2003. We are accelerating, not decelerating. Iran's capabilities are evaporating by the hour, while American strength grows fiercer, smarter, and utterly dominant.'
In terms of air power, Hegseth said that the U.S. and Israeli forces are poised to have complete control of Iranian airspace within the next few 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,' Hegseth said.
He added that, because so many of Iran's senior leaders were killed on the first day of the Middle East war, the military is unable to effectively communicate, let alone mount a coordinated and sustained offensive.
'Iran's senior leaders are dead. The so-called governing council that might have selected a successor? Dead, missing, or cowering in bunkers - too terrified to even occupy the same room,' Hegseth said.
As the three-day funeral ceremony for Iran's slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei started in Tehran Wednesday, Israel Defense Minister Israel Katz declared that any successor that continues 'the plan to destroy Israel, to threaten the United States' and 'suppress the Iranian people' will be an an unequivocal target for elimination.'
According to The New York Times, Khamenei's son, Mojtaba Khamenei, is touted as his successor.
Hegseth continued, 'Senior generals, mid-level officers, and enlisted ranks can't talk or communicate, let alone mount a sustained offensive. That's not great for morale'.
'The Iranian Air Force is no more - built for 1996, destroyed in 2026'.
'The Iranian Navy rests at the bottom of the Persian Gulf-combat ineffective, decimated, destroyed, defeated.'
In terms of battle damage, Caine said there has been an 86 percent overall drop in Iran's ballistic missile launches since the first day of fighting, and a 23 percent decrease in just the last 24 hours. Additionally, there has been a 73 percent decrease in Iranian one-way attack drone shots fired from early on in the conflict.
At sea, U.S. Central Command announced that more than 20 Iranian navy vessels have been destroyed, including the sinking of an Iranian war ship in the Indian Ocean by a U.S. Navy fast attack submarine.
It was the first time a U.S. submarine has used a Mark 48 torpedo to sink an enemy vessel since World War II, Caine noted.
Looking ahead, Caine said that Centcom will continue to strike the regime's infrastructure - including hunting and killing ballistic missile launchers and one-way attack capabilities - and continue to attack Iran's naval capabilities.
Copyright(c) 2026 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2026 AFX News
