Additional Coverage:
U.S. Claims Iranian Leadership “Cowering” Amidst Military Decimation
Washington D.C. – War Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered a stark assessment of the ongoing conflict with Iran during a Friday morning press briefing, asserting that the U.S. is “decimating the radical Iranian regime’s military.” He further claimed that Iran’s new supreme leader was injured and “likely disfigured,” going so far as to liken Iranian leadership to “rats” hiding underground.
“Desperate and hiding, they’ve gone underground, cowering,” Hegseth stated, adding, “That’s what rats do. We know the new so-called not-so-Supreme leader is wounded and likely disfigured.” These comments follow earlier remarks from President Trump, who indicated the U.S. was “totally destroying” Iran and urged observers to “watch what happens” on Friday.
Hegseth dismissed a recent written statement from Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei – son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – as “weak.” The elder Khamenei was reportedly killed at the war’s outset.
“It was a written statement,” Hegseth emphasized. “Iran has plenty of cameras and plenty of voice recorders.
Why a written statement? I think you know why.
His father, dead. He’s scared, he’s injured, he’s on the run and he lacks legitimacy.
It’s a mess for them. Who’s in charge?
Iran may not even know.”
The War Secretary outlined aggressive U.S. military objectives, declaring, “We’re on plan to defeat, destroy, disable all of their meaningful military capabilities at a pace the world has never seen before.” He predicted the swift destruction of Iran’s defense industry: “Soon, and very soon, all of Iran’s defense companies will be destroyed.”
Hegseth concluded by reiterating his commitment to a clear set of military goals: “I serve God, the troops, the country, the Constitution, and the president of the United States and answer only to those, all in service of victory on the battlefield and the military objectives that we’ve laid out from day one: Defeat the missiles, missile launchers and defense industrial base, which I laid out today. Defeat the Navy and deny Iran the ability to have a nuclear weapon. Clear, decisive, achievable.”