Washington DC [US], March 19 : US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday said the United States remains "on plan" in its war against Iran but declined to provide a definitive timeline for when the conflict would end, stressing that the final decision would rest with President Donald Trump.
"We wouldn't want to set a definitive time frame on" the war's end, Hegseth said at a Pentagon briefing, adding that the ultimate outcome and timeline would be determined by President Trump.
"As we've said, we're on plan," he noted.
Hegseth said that Operation Epic Fury is laser-focused and decisive.
"The media here, not all of it, but much of it, wants you to think, just 19 days into this conflict, that we're somehow spinning toward an endless abyss or a forever war or a quagmire. Nothing could be further from the truth," Hegseth said.
"Hear it from me, one of hundreds of thousands who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, who watched previous foolish politicians like Bush, Obama and Biden squander American credibility. This is not those wars. President Trump knows better. Epic Fury is different. It's laser-focused, it's decisive," he added.
Hegseth added that the mission objectives have remained unchanged since the first day of the war.
"Our objectives, given directly from our America First President, remain exactly what they were on day one. These are not the media's objectives, not Iran's objectives, not new objectives, our objectives, unchanged, on target and on plan. Destroy missiles, launchers and Iran's defence industrial base so they cannot rebuild, destroy their navy and Iran never gets a nuclear weapon. Our objectives from day one, " he said.
"To the patriotic members of the press, nobody can deliver perfection in wartime. This building knows that more than anyone. But report the reality. We're winning decisively and on our terms," he added.