Secretary of War Pete Hegseth stood at the Pentagon podium Wednesday morning and declared total victory for the United States in the war with Iran.
“Operation Epic Fury was a historic and overwhelming victory on the battlefield,” Hegseth said. “A capital ‘V’ military victory.”
The briefing was Hegseth’s first public appearance since the ceasefire and came just hours after Iran agreed to a two-week pause on hostilities just before President Donald Trump’s 8:00 p.m. Tuesday deadline.
“Iran begged for this ceasefire, and we all know it,” he said. The U.S. used “less than 10%” of its military capabilities over the course of Operation Epic Fury, Hegseth said, and still left Iran’s military in ruins.
🚨 SecDef Pete Hegseth: "Iran's navy is at the bottom of the sea… Iran's air force has been wiped out. Iran no longer has any sort of a comprehensive air defense system… Their missile program is functionally destroyed."
Total dominance.pic.twitter.com/cpHQJPh7sk
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) April 8, 2026
Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine put numbers to the destruction.
U.S. forces struck over 13,000 Iranian targets during the operation. Iran lost 80% of its air defense systems, 90% of its weapons factories, and over 90% of its conventional naval forces.
“It will take years for Iran to rebuild any major surface combatants,” Caine said. He added that U.S. military objectives in Iran “have been met” and described the ceasefire as a “pause” — with U.S. forces remaining in position and prepared to resume combat if negotiations fail.
As part of the deal, Iran agreed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway responsible for roughly 20% of the world’s seaborne oil trade. Its closure since late February had rattled global energy markets.
Hegseth said in the meantime, the U.S. military will stay ready.
“We’ll be hanging around, we’re not going anywhere,” he said.
🚨Pete Hegseth:
"For decades, Iran killed Americans with roadside bombs in Iraq, using cowardly proxies to do their dirty work.
Well, they just learned the hard way what happens when you try to fight us directly."pic.twitter.com/8iajSw1CQa
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) April 8, 2026
On Iran’s enriched uranium — a core concern from the start — Hegseth said no nuclear weapons program will be built by the Islamic regime.
“We know exactly what they have, and they know that, and they will either give it to us voluntarily, we’ll get it, we’ll take it, we’ll take it out — or if we have to do something else ourselves, like we did Midnight Hammer or something like that, we reserve that opportunity.”
Hegseth also confirmed Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was seriously wounded and disfigured in the operation.
He closed with a nod to America’s partner in the fight.
“To our Israeli allies — thank you for being a brave, capable, and willing ally on this battlefield.”
Trump announced the ceasefire deal on Truth Social roughly an hour before his own deadline expired, saying the U.S. had “met and exceeded all Military objectives” and received a 10-point proposal from Iran he called “a workable basis on which to negotiate.”
“A big day for world peace,” Hegseth said. “Iran wants it to happen. They’ve had enough.”
🚨Pete Hegseth: Iran was groveling for mercy.
"They were under overwhelming pressure and had no other option, so Trump called off the strikes."
“He chose mercy. He spared those targets because Iran accepted the ceasefire under overwhelming pressure.”pic.twitter.com/CpvIwccl6S
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) April 8, 2026