Washington

The United States on Tuesday said it is achieving a “decisive victory” against Iran as the military campaign dubbed Operation Epic Fury entered its tenth day.

Speaking at a press briefing, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine said the campaign has achieved total air dominance and significantly degraded Iran’s military capabilities.

Hegseth said the operation marks a shift in American military doctrine, contrasting it with the “nation-building” missions undertaken during previous administrations led by George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

“This is not endless nation-building under the quagmires we saw under Bush or Obama,” Hegseth said, adding that the current strategy focuses on achieving clear military objectives with “brutal efficiency and total air dominance.”

He said the campaign aims to fulfil the objectives set by US President Donald Trump, including preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

“We will not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated,” Hegseth said, adding that the United States would intensify strikes across Iran.

The US defence leadership outlined three primary objectives of the operation: destroying Iran’s missile stockpiles and launchers, neutralising its naval capabilities, and permanently preventing the country from developing nuclear weapons.

According to General Caine, US-led forces have struck more than 5,000 targets across Iran since the campaign began on February 28.

“Iranian ballistic missile attacks are down 90 per cent and one-way attack drones are down 83 per cent. We’ve also struck more than 50 Iranian naval ships,” he said.

Caine added that the military is continuing operations to destroy Iran’s ballistic missile systems, target naval assets and weaken the country’s defence industrial base.

The US Department of War also released a timeline of the operation. On the first day, coordinated strikes by the United States and Israel targeted command centres and nuclear facilities in Iran. These strikes reportedly killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Subsequent operations involved large-scale air strikes using B-2, B-1 and B-52 bombers against missile depots and military-industrial infrastructure. The US also asserted naval dominance in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman.

Officials said an American nuclear-powered submarine sank an Iranian warship, later identified as the frigate IRIS Dena, off the coast of Sri Lanka.

However, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps rejected US claims that its missile programme had been destroyed. According to media reports, the IRGC said it continues to deploy missiles with heavier warheads.

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Meanwhile, President Trump warned that the United States would retaliate strongly if Iran attempts to block oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz, while also indicating that the conflict could end “very soon.”