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Secretary of War Hegseth Provides Operation Epic Fury Update Amid Two-Week Ceasefire

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  April 08, 2026 8:35 AM

Yesterday, President Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran, after Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir pushed for diplomacy to end the war. The anti-Trump Left covered itself in glory too, claiming in the morning that President Trump was committing war crimes and going to nuke Iran to crowing that he folded and is weak when he didn't.

CNN also ran a fake story about a ten-point peace plan that Democrats ran with. The White House and President Trump refuted those claims, and CNN later deleted the story. 

And despite the ceasefire, Iran immediately fired missiles at Israel and other nations in the region.

So with all that going on, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and General Dan Caine held another press conference this morning on Operation Epic Fury.

"Iran has been a threat to the United States and the free world for 47 years," said Hegseth. "Chants of 'Death to America,' targeting our people, killing Americans, lying and blackmailing their way towards a nuclear weapon. So they thought. No longer. Not on our watch."

Hegseth said Operation Epic Fury was a "decisive military victory."

"Iran begged for this ceasefire, and we all know it," Hegseth continued. "Iran wants it to happen. They've had enough."

"Operation Epic Fury was a historic and overwhelming victory on the battlefield. A capital V military victory," Hegseth said. "In less than 40 days ... using less than ten percent of America's total combat power, dismantled one of the world's largest militaries. The world's largest state sponsor of terrorism proved utterly incapable of defending itself, its people, or its territory. We untied just a fraction of our strength, and Iran suffered a devastating military defeat."

"Iran no longer has any sort of a comprehensive air defense system. We own their skies. Their missile program is functionally destroyed. Launchers, production facilities, and existing stockpiles depleted and decimated," Hegseth added.

"What little they have left, buried in bunkers, is all they have. They can still shoot, we know that. Their command and control is so decimated they can't really talk and coordinate so they still may shoot here and there, but that would be very, very unwise. But they can no longer build missiles, build rockets, build launchers," Hegseth said.

"President Trump had the power to cripple Iran's entire economy in minutes. But he chose mercy," Hegseth said. "He spared those targets because Iran accepted the ceasefire under overwhelming pressure. The new Iranian regime understood that a deal was far better than the fate that awaited them."

"Iran's defeat is America's retribution for every American lost to Iranian terror. Especially those brave troops killed by iranian made roadside bombs in Iraq, that my generation knows so well. And for the suffering their regime has inflicted around the world," Hegseth said.

"The War Department for now, for now, has done its part. We stand ready in the background to ensure Iran upholds every reasonable term," Hegseth said. He also praised the men and women of our armed forces. "To the warriors of Epic Fury, I say well done. You’re the backbone of our country. Your skill, your bravery, and sheer guts, and grit showed the world what America is all about," Hegseth said.

General Dan Caine then provided an update.

He reiterated that the goals of Operation Epic Fury were to destroy Iran's ballistic missile and drone capabilities, destroy the Iranian navy, and destroy their defense industrial base.

"Over the course of 38 days of major combat operations, the joint force achieved the military objectives as defined by the president. We welcome the ongoing ceasefire, and we ... hope Iran chooses a lasting peace," Caine said. "But as Secretary Hegseth said, let us be clear, a ceasefire's a pause, and the joint force remains ready if ordered or called upon to resume combat operations with the same speed and precision that we've demonstrated over the last 38 days."

"The United States joint force has struck more than 13,000 targets," Caine said. Centcom forces destroyed approximately 80 percent of Iran's air defense systems, striking more than 1,500 air defense targets, more than 450 ballistic missile storage facilities, 800 one-way attack drone storage facilities. All of these systems are gone."

"Perhaps, most importantly, we've destroyed Iran's defense industrial base, their ability to reconstitute those capabilities for years to come," Caine added, noting that 90 percent of Iran's weapons factories were destroyed.