Hegseth:

If you kill Americans, if you threaten Americans anywhere on Earth, we will hunt you down without apology and without hesitation, and we will kill you.

Hegseth:

Iran was building powerful missiles and drones to create a conventional shield for its nuclear blackmail ambitions.

Let me say that again: a conventional shield for nuclear blackmail ambitions.

Hegseth on Iran:

Turns out the regime who chanted “death to America” and “death to Israel” was gifted death from America and from Israel.

Hegseth on Iran:

This is not a so-called regime change war, but the regime sure did change.

Hegseth:

Today, in their desperation, the enemy is unmasked. As Iranian missiles and drones rain down indiscriminately on hotels, airports, apartments, and other civilian targets of their neighbors.

Cowardly terrorist tactics from a regime that, for decades, has trafficked in cowardly terrorist tactics.

Hegseth:

Tehran was not negotiating; they were stalling, buying time to reload their missile stockpiles and restart their nuclear ambitions.

Their goal was to hold us hostage, threatening to strike our forces.

President Trump doesn’t play those games.

Hegseth:

We set the terms of this war from start to finish.

Our ambitions are not utopian. They are realistic.

Hegseth on Iran:

This is not Iraq, this is not endless.

Hegseth on Iran:

No stupid rules of engagement, no nation building, no democracy building... we fight to win and we dont waste time or lives.

Hegseth on Iran:

An effort of this scope will include casualties.

War is hell and always will be.

Hegseth on Iran:

We will finish this on “America First” conditions of President Trump’s choosing — nobody else’s, as it should be.

General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff:

This is not a single overnight operation.

We expect to take additional losses.

General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff:

Our mission is to protect and defend ourselves and, together with our regional partners, prevent Iran from projecting power outside its borders, and to be ready for follow-on actions as appropriate.

General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff:

The flow of forces continues today.

In fact, Admiral Cooper (CENTCOM) will receive additional forces even today.

General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff:

At 3:38 p.m. on Friday, February 27, United States Central Command, through the Secretary of War, received the final go order from President Trump.

The President directed, and I quote: “Operation Epic Fury is approved. No aborts. Good luck.”

General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff:

More than 100 aircraft launched from land and sea — fighters, tankers, airborne early warning and electronic attack aircraft, bombers from the United States, and unmanned platforms — forming a single synchronized wave.

This was a daylight strike based on a trigger event conducted by the Israeli Defense Forces and enabled by U.S. intelligence. The first shooters at sea were Tomahawks unleashed by the United States Navy. They closed in on Iranian naval forces and began conducting strikes across the southern flank in Iran.

On the ground, forces fired precision standoff weapons — measured, deliberate, precise, and lethal. This was a massive, overwhelming attack across all domains of warfare, striking more than a thousand targets in the first 24 hours.

General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff:

We are now roughly 57 hours into the operation, in the initial phase. CENTCOM’s focus has been the systematic targeting of Iranian command and control infrastructure, naval forces, ballistic missile sites, and intelligence infrastructure — designed to degrade and confuse them.

Coordinated space and cyber operations have effectively disrupted communications and sensor networks across the area of responsibility, leaving the adversary without the ability to see, coordinate, or respond effectively.

The combined impact of these swift, precise, and overwhelming strikes has resulted in the establishment of local air superiority.

General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff:

American B-2 bombers, which — similar to Operation Midnight Hammer — flew a 37-hour round-trip sortie from the continental United States, dropping precision penetrating munitions on Iranian underground facilities across the southern flank and slightly deeper.

General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff:

I am aware of the loss of three U.S. Air Force F-15Es overnight in the region.

I am grateful for the safety of the crews, and we know this was not the result of hostile enemy fire. As this matter is under investigation, I will not comment further.

General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff:

To those who would test our resolve or threaten the United States, our allies, or our interests, understand this clearly: we can reach you. We can sustain the fight, we can scale the fight, and we will prevail.

NEW: Mansoureh Khojasteh Bagherzadeh, the wife of late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has reportedly died from her injuries following the recent attack on Iran.