Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has issued an update on “Operation Epic Fury” – shortly after the Israeli military warned it had begun a new wave of strikes on Tehran.
Hegseth addressed the media with General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at 12pm GMT (8am ET) on Tuesday – the 11th day of the US and Israel’s war with Iran.
It comes after Iran issued a direct assassination threat to US President Donald Trump, telling him to beware of elimination. Ali Ardashir Larijani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, said earlier today: “The Ashura nation of Iran is not afraid of your empty threats. Even those greater than you could not eliminate the Iranian nation. Be careful not to be eliminated!”
The threat came after Trump wrote in a post on social media that “Death, Fire, and Fury will reign upon” Iran if the country stops the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz.
‘We are winning,’ says Hegseth
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has said “we are winning” and “crushing the enemy” during a press conference at the Pentagon.
‘Beware of elimination,’ Iran tells Trump
Ali Ardashir Larijani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, told Donald Trump earlier today: “The Ashura nation of Iran is not afraid of your empty threats. Even those greater than you could not eliminate the Iranian nation. Be careful not to be eliminated!
The post was signed: “Supreme National Security Council of Iran, Tehran, March 19, 1404 – 10 days after the martyrdom of His Holiness Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.”
It came after Trump said in a post on Truth Social that “if Iran does anything that stops the flow of Oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far.”