Daily Caller Reporter Presses Pete Hegseth To Define Objectives For Iran War

Daily Caller White House correspondent Reagan Reese asked Secretary of War Pete Hegseth Monday about the objectives of Operation Epic Fury.

United States Central Command (CENTCOM) reported four service members were killed in action and at least five others were wounded as of 7:30 a.m. EST Monday since the commencement of Operation Epic Fury. Hegseth told Reese during a Monday press briefing that the United States had clear objectives. (RELATED: CENTCOM Says Three USAF F-15Es Downed By Kuwait In Friendly Fire Incident)

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“The president said yesterday in his video message that we will leave Iran when we complete all of our objectives. What are our objectives, and can you share more information on how the soldiers who were killed were killed?” Reese asked, with Hegseth responding, “Well, I laid out the objectives, as did the chairman. They’re, they’re completely nested. I mean, Iran has an ability to project power against us and our allies in ways that we can’t, we can’t tolerate.”

“So whether that’s ballistic missiles and drones, so offensive capabilities, effectively their navy, which would attempt to set other terms and impose different costs, drone capabilities, which we, which we laid out there, and ultimately though this tying it back to Midnight Hammer, the president has been willing to make a deal,” Hegseth continued. “You can’t have a nuclear bomb. Radical Islamists can’t have a nuclear bomb that they wield against the world. He gave them every single opportunity, then we precisely took it away. And even, even then after that, they didn’t have that, they didn’t come to the table with a willingness to give it away. So ultimately, that those nuclear ambitions, which never ceased, are something that had to be addressed.”

Trump confirmed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s death in a Saturday post hours after he announced the commencement of Operation Epic Fury. Iran responded by firing hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones indiscriminately at targets in Israel, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.

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