Watch: Hesgeth says more than 15,000 enemy targets have been hit in the Iran conflict

Defense Minister Pete Hegseth said Friday that the size of Iran’s missiles has decreased by 90%, while the size of its drones has decreased by 95%.

Hegseth presented new details about the operation against Iran in a press conference from the Pentagon, noting the impact of US and Israeli air strikes on the Islamic Republic.

He watches: Middle East analysts talk about what the Iran war has achieved and how it could end

Hegseth said more than 15,000 enemy targets had been hit, which amounts to more than 1,000 per day since the war began on February 28.

Iranian drone attacks in response to the operation were deadly, including a deadly attack in Kuwait that killed six American soldiers.

Hegseth says Iran’s new supreme leader is ‘distorted’

Hegseth said Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was injured and “most likely disfigured.”

Khamenei assumed leadership of Iran after the death of his father. The younger Khamenei has not been seen or heard from in public since the war began, leading to speculation about his whereabouts and health.

He watches: Iran’s new supreme leader vows to pursue retaliation across the Gulf and oil routes

On Thursday, he made his first public comments, resolving to fight on, promising more pain for Gulf Arab states and threatening to open “other fronts” in a war that has already disrupted global energy supplies, the global economy and international travel.

Hegseth did not provide details or provide evidence regarding Khamenei’s condition.

Ken provides more details about the American pilots killed in a plane refueling crash

Hegseth said that “war is a mess” and that the sacrifices of those killed “will only recommit us to solving this mission.” He also acknowledged the crash of a US military KC-135 refueling plane that participated in the operation against Iran.

to update: The US military announced that all six pilots on board the refueling plane that crashed in Iraq were killed

Gen. Dan Kean, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that four pilots were recovered in what he described as an incident “over friendly territory in western Iraq” that was not the result of hostile or friendly fire.

The US Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, said on Thursday that two planes were involved in the accident, one of which landed safely while the other fell.

Hegseth calls Vance “indispensable” to US leadership on actions in Iran

Hegseth praised Vice President J.D. Vance as a “key voice” on Iran, calling him “a great member and leader of this team.”

While dismissing the idea of ​​a feud, Trump said this week that Vance was “a little different from me philosophically” at the start of the war.

Vance, a former Marine, has often promoted Trump’s vision of an America more focused on solving problems at home rather than intervening in conflicts abroad. In a 2023 Wall Street Journal op-ed that received renewed attention, Vance wrote that Trump had his support because “I know he would not recklessly send Americans to fight abroad.”

On the eve of the strikes, Vance told the Washington Post that there was “no chance” the United States would get involved in a long-term war as it did in Iraq.

Hegseth says the United States is working to ensure “energy flows” through the Strait of Hormuz

The Defense Minister told reporters that Iran is “exercising a state of absolute desperation” with its threats that have blocked a significant portion of the world’s oil supply.

“We’re dealing with it,” he told reporters Friday at the Pentagon. He did not give details.

He watches: Iran targets ships in the Strait of Hormuz, raising global energy concerns

Kane added that the US military “has made it a priority to target the Iranian mine-laying project” in the strategic waterway.

Hegseth: Stopping the Iranian nuclear program remains an “essential task”

Hegseth said ending Iran’s nuclear weapons program remains an “essential mission” as US and Israeli strikes on the country continue.

Speaking at the Pentagon news conference, Hegseth said the president is focused on ending Iran’s ability to manufacture nuclear weapons once and for all.

Hegseth did not clarify whether ground forces were needed to secure Iran’s supplies of enriched uranium or its nuclear facilities, but he said the United States was considering a range of options. He said he would welcome the decision of Iran’s leaders to voluntarily abandon their nuclear program.

“We have said from the beginning: Deprive Iran of nuclear weapons,” Hegseth said.

“There is no clear evidence” that Iran has planted new mines in the strait, Hegseth says

In response to a loud question at a press conference on Friday about new Iranian mines affecting the Strait of Hormuz, Hegseth said: “We have heard them talking about it, just as you recklessly and brutally stated about it, but we have no clear evidence.”

He watches: Can oil reserves be used to stabilize prices?

The United States said on Tuesday that it had shot down more than a dozen Iranian ships that were laying mines. Iran has vowed to prevent oil exports in the region, with one official saying that Iran’s enemies will not get “even a single litre.”

Hegseth says an officer has been selected to lead the investigation into a school strike in Iran

Hegseth said that US Central Command has appointed an officer to lead the investigation into the deadly attack on an elementary school in Iran.

The investigating officer was chosen from outside Central Command, which oversees the Middle East.

The attack on the school in the first hours of the US war in Iran killed more than 165 people, many of them children.

He watches: Trump evades responsibility for the deadly attack on the Iranian girls’ school

The Associated Press reported that outdated intelligence likely prompted the United States to carry out the missile attack on the school.

Speaking at a news conference on Friday, Hegseth declined to answer questions about what led to the raid, but said the United States was not targeting civilians. He added that the investigation would take “as long as necessary.”

“We will get to the truth and we will share it when we get it,” Hegseth said.