‘Per the president’s direction, today will be the largest volume of strikes since day one of this operation; tomorrow, even more than today,’ Hegseth said
US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth warned that, as per President Donald Trump directions there will be “largest volume of strikes” on Monday (local time) since the beginning of Operation Fury, adding that tomorrow’s strikes will surpass today’s if Iran doesn’t make the deal to put an end to the war.
Addressing reporters at the White House, Hegseth cautioned Iran to “choose wisely”, warning that President Trump “does not play around”.
“Per the president’s direction, today will be the largest volume of strikes since day one of this operation. Tomorrow, even more than today. And then Iran has a choice. Choose wisely, because this president does not play around,” he said.
Additionally, Trump called out US allies who “didn’t help” Washington in the war with Iran.
“Japan didn’t help us, Australia didn’t help us, South Korea didn’t help us, and then you get to Nato — Nato didn’t help us,” Trump said at a White House news conference.
Trump added of US assistance to the nations: “We’ve got 50,000 soldiers in Japan to protect them from North Korea; we have 45,000 soldiers in South Korea to protect us from Kim Jong Un.”
Trump then commended some Persian Gulf nations for their support, “Saudi Arabia has been excellent, Qatar has been excellent, UAE has been excellent, Bahrain, Kuwait.”
US President Donald Trump said that Iran could be “taken out” in a single night, suggesting that such a move could come as early as Tuesday amid rising tensions in West Asia.
He also claimed that American armed forces have conducted an extensive air campaign over Iran in recent weeks, carrying out more than 10,000 combat flights and striking over 13,000 targets over the past 37 days.
Trump’s remarks came as part of his warning to Iran over reopening the strategic Strait of Hormuz, for which he has set a deadline of Tuesday, 8:00 PM (Eastern Time).
