American sub sinks Iranian warship; Hegseth vows US is ‘just getting started’ as conflict intensifies

“America is winning” was Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s message on Wednesday about military operations in Iran, in a conflict he said is “accelerating, not decelerating.”

“We are just getting started,” he said at a Pentagon press conference. “Iran’s capabilities are evaporating by the hour, while American strength grows fiercer, smarter, and utterly dominant. More bombers and more fighters are arriving just today.”

The strikes from the U.S. military and Israel Defense Forces are resulting in “sheer destruction for our radical Islamist Iranian adversaries,” he said. “They are toast and they know it. Or at least soon enough they will know it.”

Hegseth said that within less than a week, “the two most powerful air forces in the world will have complete control of Iranian skies.” He also announced that an American submarine sank an Iranian warship Tuesday in the Indian Ocean.

“It was sunk by a torpedo, quiet death,” he said. “The first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War II.” 

Hegseth insisted that the military action, dubbed Operation Epic Fury, is in its early days and that the U.S. will “take all the time we need to make sure that we succeed,” and it will only end once “we decide it’s over.”

“Iran’s senior leaders are dead,” he said. “The Iranian Air Force is no more … The Iranian Navy rests at the bottom of the Persian Gulf.”

Nearly 60% of Americans disapprove of the strikes in Iran, recent CNN polling found, with a majority expecting a longer-term conflict. The longer Americans think the conflict will go on, the more they disapprove, CBS polling found, and 62% of those surveyed thought the Trump administration has not clearly explained the government’s goals in Iran.

Hegseth, for his part, had nothing but praise for President Donald Trump’s decision to strike over the weekend, which resulted in the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“Unlike the past, where vague red lines and endless negotiations let Iran fund terror and inch ever so slightly toward a bomb, this president sees the threat plainly and acts decisively,” Hegseth told reporters. “No more half measures, especially when Iran is at its weakest.” 

He also expressed sympathy for the six U.S. service members who have been killed so far, promising to avenge them.

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine, who also spoke at the press conference, named four of the six deceased service members, all of whom were from the 103rd Sustainment Command out of Des Moines, Iowa. He held off on announcing the other two names, waiting for their families to be notified first.

“To the families of our fallen, we grieve with you today and we look forward to welcoming your family members home,” Caine said. “To our gold star families, to our wounded warriors and their loved ones, we will never forget your sacrifice.”

Caine reiterated Trump’s military objectives in the region, noting the U.S. is targeting Iran’s ballistic missile systems, destroying the Iranian navy, and ensuring that Iran cannot rebuild its combat powers.

He said that while U.S. intelligence is targeting ballistic missile launchers with precision, Iran has been “indiscriminate and more imprecise in their attacks.”

“They’ve fired more than 500 ballistic missiles and more than 2,000 drones, striking innocent civilian targets throughout the region,” he said.

He also highlighted that the operation is in its early stage, just over 100 hours in. “We’ve always got to remember,” he said, “that these operations are complex, dangerous, and far from over.”