Hegseth: Iran War Is 'Bringing Your Enemy to Their Knees'

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the outcome in Iran is already set: capitulation, whether Tehran says the word or not. In an interview with CBS' 60 Minutes, Hegseth said US strikes had hit roughly 3,000 targets in Iran as of Friday and warned the campaign is "only just the beginning." He described the goal as forcing Iran to a point where it can no longer wage war, calling it "bringing your enemy to their knees," though he noted that "whether they will have a ceremony in Tehran Square and surrender, that's up to them." Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian dismissed Washington's demand for "unconditional surrender" as "a dream that they should take to their grave."

Hegseth defended the war's origins amid criticism that Israel pushed the US into a conflict not centered on American interests, insisting Washington "controlled the throttle." He cited Iran's decades-long hostility and nuclear ambitions and portrayed the fight as lopsided by design, highlighting US and Israeli airpower as "the two most powerful air forces in the world." No US ground troops are currently in Iran, but Hegseth said that "President Trump knows, I know, you don't tell the enemy, you don't tell the press, you don't tell anybody what your limits would be on an operation. We're willing to go as far as we need to in order to be successful."

The conflict has already reshaped the region and hit home. Oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz have stalled, driving up US gas prices, while an Iranian drone attack in Kuwait killed six American reservists; Hegseth said more US casualties are likely. The group Human Rights Activists in Iran reports that more than 1,600 Iranians have been killed, including 168 people—mostly children—at a southern school hit during US operations; Washington and Israel have not claimed that strike, and Hegseth said the US "never target[s] civilians." He also confirmed Russia has aided Iran with intelligence but said US planners are factoring that in: "The only ones that need to be worried right now are Iranians that think they're gonna live."