Pentagon announces 'most intense day of strikes' in Iran as Middle East tensions escalate

Addressing reporters on Tuesday morning, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced that the United States will launch its "most intense" wave of airstrikes against Iran to date. Calling Operation Epic Fury a "laser-focused, maximum authority mission delivered with overwhelming and unrelenting precision," Hegseth said that the U.S. will "not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated." 

"But we do so on our timeline and at our choosing. For example, today will be yet again our most intense day of strikes inside Iran—the most fighters, the most bombers, the most strikes, intelligence more refined and better than ever. So that's on one hand," the Secretary of War said. Hegseth also claimed a significant reduction in Iranian attacks. The last 24 hours, he said, "have seen Iran fire the lowest number of missiles they've been capable of firing yet."

Assuring citizens that the U.S was on the path to achieving its goals, Hegseth asserted that President Donald Trump will "never allow" Iran to gain a nuclear bomb. "The mullahs are desperate and scrambling like the terrorist cowards they are. They fire missiles from schools and hospitals, deliberately targeting innocents because they know their military is being systematically degraded and annihilated. Iran's neighbors—and in some cases former allies in the Gulf—they've abandoned them, and their proxies, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Hamas, are either broken, ineffective, or on the sidelines. Iran stands alone, and they are badly losing," Hegseth said.

The War Secretary added that on day 10 of Operation Epic Fury, the U.S. was "winning with an overwhelming and unrelenting focus on our objectives." Stating that the U.S. objectives have been straightforward, Hegseth said that the U.S. was executing them with "ruthless passion." The objectives, Hegseth said, include destroying Iran's missile stockpiles, missile launchers, defense industrial base, and navy, and "permanently deny Iran nuclear weapons forever."

General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, provided a tactical update, confirming that CENTCOM continues to make progress across the southern flank. "To date, they've struck more than 5,000 targets. U.S. Strategic Command bombers recently dropped dozens of 2,000 lb GPS-penetrating weapons on deeply buried missile launchers across the southern flank. We also have struck several one-way drone factories to get at the heart of their autonomous capability," General Caine said. 

He also informed that ballistic missile attacks by Iran "continue to trend downward 90% from where they've started" and "one-way attack drones have decreased 83% since the beginning of the operation." In terms of targeting Tehran's naval assets, Gen Caine said that U.S. troops have engaged more than 50 Iranian naval ships "using a combination of artillery, fighters, bombers, and sea-launched missiles." The U.S. has also started targeting Iran's military and industrial complex.

Meanwhile, the intensification of the conflict has sent shockwaves through global energy markets, with oil prices surpassing $110 per barrel. The economic fallout has prompted strong political reactions in Washington. "I'm sure you've seen it. Gas prices are going up fast, and the reason is this war Trump started with Iran. Americans are actually paying for Trump's bad decisions," Senator Mark Kelly said in a video posted on X. Kelly has introduced a Bill to temporarily suspend the federal gasoline tax for the remainder of the 2026 calendar year.