US War Secretary Hegseth says Iranian warship was sunk by US submarine
The US says Iran missile and drone strikes are sharply down as Gulf allies coordinate defenses; Then Iranian leader behind Trump's assassination plot was killed
US War Secretary Pete Hegseth delivers defense briefing on Iran operations
US War Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday during a defense briefing on Iran operations that American partners in the Persian Gulf are working closely with Washington to counter Iranian missile and drone attacks. He said allies, including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, are coordinating their air defenses with the United States to combat Iranian missiles and drones. He noted that in recent years, Washington has pushed its regional allies to "drop their rivalries and cooperate more closely against a common threat."
Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Iran’s ballistic missile strikes are down 86 percent from the first day of fighting, "with a 23 percent decrease just in the last 24 hours." He added that Iran’s one-way attack drone strikes are down 73 percent. US officials say the figures reflect the combined impact of US and allied air and missile defenses and ongoing strikes on Iranian capabilities.
Hegseth said the United States used a submarine-launched torpedo to sink an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean. He said it was "the first time an American submarine has been used to fire a torpedo against an enemy ship in combat since World War II." Sri Lanka’s deputy foreign minister told local television that at least 80 people were killed in the strike on the Iranian vessel.
Iranian leader behind attempted Trump assasination is eliminated
The US war secretary also said that the leader of an Iranian covert unit behind an effort to assassinate President Donald Trump in 2024 had been killed in recent strikes. "The leader of the unit who attempted to assassinate President Trump has been hunted down and killed. Iran tried to kill President Trump. And President Trump got the last laugh," he told reporters, without naming the individual and saying only that the operation took place on Tuesday. Iran denied in January 2025 that it had plotted to kill Trump, while in November 2024 the US Justice Department charged an Iranian man in connection with an alleged Revolutionary Guard Corps plot that US authorities said was thwarted.
Asked whether Iran could outlast the United States, Hegseth replied: "Iran cannot outlast us." He added, "The only limits we have in this is President Trump's desire to achieve specific effects on behalf of the American people. And that's why we don't talk about, you know, you can say four weeks, but it could be six, it could be eight, it could be three." He said, "Ultimately, we set the pace and the tempo. The enemy is off balance, and we're going to keep them off balance. And we know their ability to shoot versus our ability to defend. That difference gets wider and wider every day."
NATO's reponse to Iranian missile interception heading to Turkey
Hegseth said "there is no sense" that a reported Iranian ballistic missile intercepted as it headed toward Turkish airspace would trigger NATO’s collective defense clause. Referring to Ankara’s announcement that NATO air defenses had destroyed the missile, he said:
"On the matter with Turkey, I'll have to get back to you on exactly what the intercept looked like. We're aware of that particular engagement. Although, no sense that it would trigger anything like Article 5. No."
NATO earlier condemned Iran’s targeting of Turkey and reiterated its solidarity with all allies.
'Punching them while they're down'
Outlining Washington’s broader objectives, Hegseth said "America is winning in Iran" and that more US forces are arriving in the region. "Our air defenses and that of our allies have plenty of runway. We can sustain this fight easily for as long as we need to," he said, adding that Iran is "toast and they know it" and that the United States and Israel will have "complete control of Iranian skies" in under a week. He said more and larger waves of strikes are coming, that "we are just getting started," and that the United States will use an "unlimited stockpile of precision gravity bombs."
"This was never meant to be a fair fight, and it is not a fair fight. We are punching them while they're down," he said.