The Secretary framed the mission as necessary to counter what he described as Iran’s expanding military capabilities. “The military objectives that CENTCOM and the Joint Force have been tasked with will take some time to achieve and in some cases will be difficult and gritty work,” he said. “We fight to win.”​The Secretary framed the mission as necessary to counter what he described as Iran’s expanding military capabilities. Radical Islamists can't have a nuclear bomb that they wield against the world,” Hegseth said. Then we precisely took it away.”​While distancing the campaign from past U.S. wars in the region, Hegseth said, “This is not Iraq.

Source: dna March 02, 2026 15:37 UTC