The US defence secretary says Iranian ballistic missile and one-way drone attacks against US forces are "down 90% since the start of the conflict".
He says the "last job anyone in the world wants right now" is a senior leader within the Iranian military, calling them "temp jobs".
The US, he goes on, has damaged or sunk at least 120 Iranian naval ships, with their surface fleet "no longer a factor" and their submarines "gone".
"A regime like that, refusing to abandon its nuclear ambitions, is not just a regional problem, it's a direct threat to America, to freedom and to civilisation," Hegseth says of Iran.
He also says the "world, the Middle East, our ungrateful allies in Europe, and even segments of our own press should be saying one thing to President Trump - 'thank you'".
It should be noted, that the U.S. has carried out more than 7,800 strikes since launching the war on February 28 and damaged or destroyed more than 120 Iranian vessels so far, according to a factsheet released on Wednesday by the U.S. Central Command, which oversees the roughly 50,000 U.S. troops in the Middle East.
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