On Wednesday, Secretary of Defense Haggis and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Kane held a press conference at the Pentagon to discuss the U.S. military action against Iran. Haggis stated that the United States had achieved a decisive military victory.
Regarding the two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran, Haggis mentioned that Iran had begged for the ceasefire, and the U.S. military’s “Operation Epic Wrath” had destroyed Iran’s military capabilities.
President Trump announced on Tuesday evening that he agreed to a two-week ceasefire, with the condition that Iran agreed to “fully, immediately, and safely open the Strait of Hormuz.”
During the press conference, Haggis presented the current military situation in Iran. He stated that the U.S. had achieved a “decisive military victory” in the military action against Iran.
“The ‘Operation Epic Wrath’ was a historic and overwhelming battlefield victory,” he said, adding, “From any perspective, ‘Operation Epic Wrath’ has severely crippled Iran’s military capabilities, rendering them ineffective for the coming years.”
“Iran’s air force has been destroyed. Iran no longer has any air defense systems, any comprehensive air defense systems. We control their airspace. Their missile program has been essentially destroyed. Launchers, production facilities, and existing inventory have been depleted, nearly completely destroyed, and rendered almost entirely ineffective,” he stated.
He mentioned that the U.S. launched 800 airstrikes on Tuesday night, destroying Iran’s defense industrial base.
“(Iran) can no longer manufacture missiles, rockets, launchers, or drones. Their factories have been flattened,” he said.
“They can still fire, we know that,” Haggis added, “Their command and control capability has been severely degraded, making communication and coordination impossible, so they may still sporadically fire, but that would be very very unwise.”
General Kane stated during the press conference that the ceasefire with Iran was only temporary, and U.S. forces remained ready to resume combat operations at any time.
“Let’s be clear. The ceasefire is temporary,” Kane said, “If ordered or requested to resume combat operations, the Joint Forces are still prepared to execute missions with the same speed and precision demonstrated over the past 38 days. But we hope this situation does not arise.”
He paid tribute to the 13 U.S. Joint Forces members who have fallen in this operation so far.