Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has announced that United States forces have “tracked down and eliminated” the leader of an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate President Donald Trump.
“Iran tried to kill President Trump. And President Trump got the last laugh,” Hegseth said, before declaring that the United States was triumphing in its military campaign against Iran “decisively, devastatingly and without mercy.”
The comments came as tensions in the Middle East continue to rise following joint United States and Israeli airstrikes on Iran on February 28.
View this post on Instagram
Under Operation Epic Fury, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, his daughter, grandchild, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, and other top officials of the regime were killed.
Apart from Tehran, United States strikes also targeted places like Isfahan, Karaj, Kermanshah, Qum and Tabriz. Trump said that Iran must never acquire a nuclear weapon and hinted at regime change after Ali Khamenei’s death.
The Israeli outlet N12 News reported, citing Iran International, that the Assembly of Experts named Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Ali Khamenei, as Iran’s next successor.
In response to the United States-Israel strikes, Iran launched attacks targeting several Gulf nations, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). As a result, several countries closed their airspace, leaving thousands stranded due to abrupt flight cancellations.
Qatar was targeted by several attacks, including 14 ballistic missiles and four drones coming from Iran. Sources said that 13 missiles were intercepted, and no casualties were reported. Hegseth said that additional American forces, including fighter jets and bombers, are being deployed to the Middle East to support ongoing operations. He added that the operation will go on as long as necessary.
The comments came after Trump and senior defense officials had warned that additional American casualties are possible in a war that could last for months.
Hegseth mentioned, “We will take all the time we need to make sure that we succeed.” During a Pentagon address, he stated that the United States military established the strongest possible defensive posture before launching the operations.
“This does not mean we can stop everything,” he told reporters. “But we ensured the maximum possible defense and force protection before going on offense,” he claimed, stating that a United States submarine recently sank an Iranian warship with a torpedo.
“An American submarine sank an Iranian warship that believed it was safe in international waters,” Hegseth said, adding, “Instead, it was destroyed by a torpedo.”
View this post on Instagram
The United States military said that it destroyed 17 Iranian vessels as part of its campaign, which aims to weaken Iran’s naval capabilities. Meanwhile, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff pointed out that United States service members continue to be exposed to danger.
The warning followed a retaliatory attack after an Iranian drone strike on Sunday, March 1, killed six American soldiers at an operations center in a civilian port.
Earlier, the friction between the two nations reached a peak in January 2020, when the United States carried out a drone strike in Baghdad, killing top Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani.
In response, Iran launched missile attacks on United States bases in Iraq, further straining relations. At that time, Trump warned the Khamenei against attempting to control the United States response in the event of an assassination attempt. “If they do it, they get obliterated. There won’t be anything left,” Trump said at the time.
”They haven’t done that, and it would be a terrible mistake for them. Not because of me — if they did that, they would be obliterated. That would be the end. I’ve left instructions: if they do it, they get obliterated. There won’t be anything left. And they shouldn’t be able to do it,” he had stated.
The president has already survived an assassination attempt on July 14, 2024, during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
