The Pentagon chief’s remarks follow the president’s comments on Monday, suggesting the war could be over sooner than expected. For now, fighting appeared to be ramping up.

“Today will be yet again our most intense day of strikes inside Iran – the most fighters, the most bombers,” Hegseth told reporters on Tuesday, also claiming the US military is “winning” the war.

“As President Trump declared yesterday, we’re crushing the enemy in an overwhelming display of technical skill and military force. We will not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated,” he said.

A day earlier, Trump claimed US military objectives in Iran were nearly complete, with vague comments suggesting the war could end “very soon”.

Tehran responded, vowing the war would end on its own terms. “It is we who will determine the end of the war,” Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement.