Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used a Pentagon news conference Tuesday to deliver a blunt message on both the battlefield and the bargaining table: American firepower in Operation Epic Fury is accelerating, and Iran should come to terms before it gets worse.

Hegseth, who disclosed a covert visit to U.S. forces in the CENTCOM theater, said troops on the ground have one overriding request for leadership. “I met a junior airman, as the sun was going down and a chill was setting on the tarmac, who, when asked what they needed, she simply looked up at me with a sly smile on her face and said, ‘more bombs, sir, and bigger bombs,'” Hegseth recounted. “We will happily oblige her.”

He said the message was consistent across ranks, services, and roles. “What those Americans said to me, young and old, officer and NCO, male and female, Black and White, was: ‘Let’s finish the mission. Get us even more bombs. Bigger bombs, more targets. Let us finish this.'”

On Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Hegseth was unequivocal. “As President Trump has said time and time again, Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb, and they won’t,” he said. “These troops, they want to finish this fight for their kids and their grandkids. This is about history. This is about legacy.”

Hegseth drew a sharp contrast between the current administration and its predecessors. “President Trump is doing what no other president had the guts to do. Previous presidents were all talk. He’s all action,” he said. “American firepower is only increasing. Iran’s decreasing. We have more and more options, and they have less. Just one month — in only one month — we set the terms.”

He noted that the latest deadline for Iran to accept Trump’s peace terms falls at the midpoint of a 10-day pause on strikes against Iranian energy infrastructure, and said the onus was on Tehran to respond. “If Iran is wise, they will cut a deal,” Hegseth said. “President Trump doesn’t bluff and he does not back down. You can ask Khamenei about that.”

Hegseth addressed Iran’s new leadership directly. “This new regime, because regime change has occurred, should be wiser than the last. President Trump will make a deal. He is willing, and the terms of the deal are known to them. If Iran is not willing, then the United States War Department will continue with even more intensity.”

Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, appearing alongside Hegseth, credited the American defense industrial base for sustaining the pace of the campaign, saying the factories, workshops, and laboratories supplying the military were as central to the war effort as the troops in the field.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)