‘This is not Iraq’: Hegseth says campaign against Iran is ‘not endless’ or about regime change

US defends strikes as targeted campaign

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth used a press conference at the Pentagon to reject suggestions that the Trump administration was becoming entangled in another prolonged Middle East conflict through the launch of Operation Epic Fury.

“This is not a so-called regime change war, but the regime sure did change, and the world is better off for it,” Hegseth said.

In his address to the nation announcing the operation, US President Donald Trump called on the Iranian people to take control of their government once the bombing subsides, and he reiterated that appeal again yesterday.

Hegseth said the objectives of the operation, launched on Saturday, are: “Destroy Iranian offensive missiles, destroy Iranian missile production, destroy their navy and other security infrastructure, and they will never have nuclear weapons.”

Trump has claimed that strikes he authorised last year dismantled Iran’s nuclear programme, though he argues Tehran has attempted to rebuild it since.

“Our ambitions are not utopian. They are realistic,” Hegseth said. “This is not Iraq, this is not endless… Our generation knows better and so does this president.”

“He called the last 20 years of nation building wars dumb. This is the opposite,” he added.

Hegseth outlined what he described as the hostile actions taken by the Iranian regime over several decades that had resulted in the deaths of thousands of Americans.

“We didn’t start this war. But we will finish it,” he said.

He rejected Tehran’s assertion that it is not pursuing nuclear weapons, arguing that its actions suggest otherwise.

“Peaceful nuclear ambitions do not need to be buried underneath mountains,” Hegseth said.

The US Defence Secretary also stressed that there was no fixed timetable for the military campaign, stating that President Trump alone would determine its duration.

Asked about how long operations might last, Hegseth declined to provide a timeline. He framed the campaign as the culmination of decades of confrontation between Washington and Tehran.

“We didn’t start this war, but under President Trump, we are finishing it,” Hegseth said. “Their war on Americans has become our retribution against their Ayatollah.”

He further defended Trump’s approach to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, saying: “President Trump has also been very consistent. Crazy regimes like Iran, hell-bent on prophetic Islamist delusions, cannot have nuclear weapons many have said it, but it takes guts to actually enforce it, and our president has guts.”

The US-Israeli offensive began with coordinated strikes on Iran that reportedly killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and senior commanders on Saturday.

Since then, Iran has launched barrages of missiles and drones at Israel, Gulf states and Western military bases. Hezbollah has opened a Lebanese front with strikes on Israel, prompting heavy Israeli air attacks on Beirut’s southern suburbs.

The conflict has widened across the region. Iranian projectiles have targeted US bases and allied installations, including a British air base in Cyprus. Washington and Israel have repeatedly stated that the campaign aims to dismantle Iran’s offensive capabilities and prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons.