Washington, DC [US], March 8 (ANI): United States Secretary of War Pete Hegseth issued a warning on social media, cautioning of lethal consequences for any entity that targets American citizens.
The warning, shared in a post by CENTCOM on X, underscored the administration’s uncompromising stance on national security. “If you kill Americans, if you threaten Americans anywhere on earth, we will hunt you down without apology and without hesitation, and we will kill you,” Hegseth said.
Accompanying the message, a 21-second video clip was released showing the military’s operational reach. The footage included a series of “unclassified” images of vehicles and structures being bombed and destroyed by U.S. forces during recent operations.
The Secretary’s remarks align with recent claims made by U.S. President Donald Trump, who asserted on Saturday that the United States had successfully neutralized the entire Iranian leadership. The President characterized the military operations as the removal of a significant “cancer” from the global stage.
Reflecting on the week-old hostilities while traveling to Miami aboard Air Force One, Trump maintained a confident outlook on the progress of the campaign.
“We’re winning the war by a lot. We’ve decimated their whole evil empire. It’ll continue, I’m sure, for a little while. The war itself is going unbelievably. It’s as good as it can be,” Trump said.
During his remarks, the President outlined what he described as strategic military gains achieved by American forces, stating that the offensive had effectively dismantled Iran’s maritime and aerial capabilities.
“We’ve wiped out their navy, 44 ships. We’ve wiped out their air force, every plane. We’ve wiped out most of their missiles,” he said.
Trump further suggested that Iran’s ability to launch offensive strikes had been severely curtailed.
“You see the missiles aren’t coming much anymore. We’ve also hit their manufacturing areas where they make the missiles very hard. Their drone capacity is way down, and we’ve hurt them where it hurts, including about every form of leadership you can have; we’ve wiped out,” the President added.
Addressing reports concerning the bombing of an elementary girls’ school in Iran, Trump rejected allegations of American responsibility and instead blamed Iran, citing what he described as the inaccuracy of Iranian weapons.
“No, I don’t believe so. Based on what I’ve seen, that was done by Iran. We think it was done by Iran because they’re very inaccurate, as you know, with their munitions. They have no accuracy whatsoever. It was done by Iran,” Trump said.
When questioned about the initial six-week projection for the military mission, Trump declined to provide a specific timeline for the conflict, though he emphasized that the Iranian armed forces were nearing collapse.
“I never project time, whatever it takes. But the Iranian military is almost nonexistent. We could hit their military itself very hard, but maybe we will, maybe we won’t. We haven’t made that determination,” he said.
The President also highlighted what he described as extensive damage to the industrial infrastructure supporting the Iranian military.
“We’ve hit the manufacturing very hard. They’re at about nine percent of what they sent out in the first two days, and we think that’s because they don’t have that much. We’ve also knocked out about 70 percent of the rockets, of the launchers. The launchers are a big deal, very hard to get, very expensive,” he said.
Speaking alongside the President, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff indicated that a diplomatic breakthrough with Iran remained possible, though the decision ultimately rests with the White House.
“I think there is. I think that’s going to be up to the President,” Witkoff said.
However, the envoy noted that previous discussions had been hindered by Tehran’s refusal to compromise.
“They didn’t seem to be very amenable in that first set of negotiations. They said we have the inalienable right to enrich. They bragged about having 60 percent enriched fuel, enough for 11 bombs. And they told me and Jared, ‘We’re not going to give you diplomatically what you couldn’t take militarily.’ So I think they’re going to need a change of attitude,” he added.
These developments follow a joint U.S.-Israel military operation on February 28 that led to the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several other senior officials.
In the aftermath of that strike, Tehran launched a major retaliatory campaign, firing drones and ballistic missiles at U.S. assets and regional partners, including Israel, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. The escalation has significantly increased risks for civilians and expatriates across West Asia. (ANI)
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