As Hegseth proclaims victory in Iran war, Caine takes cautious tone

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine struck different tones on Wednesday while describing the state of hostilities with Iran, with the secretary characterizing the conflict mostly in the past tense while the general appeared unwilling to use such absolute terms and left open the possibility that additional U.S. troops could be killed.

Their comments during a morning news conference at the Pentagon came in the initial hours of a ceasefire, after an announcement Tuesday night that the Trump administration and the Iranian regime had agreed to a two-week pause in the fighting while the two sides negotiate their significant differences on how to end the war. By midafternoon, the agreement appeared already in jeopardy.

Hegseth praised President Donald Trump for what he said was the president’s “courage and resolve.” Iran, the defense secretary said, “begged for this ceasefire.” U.S. troops have “for now” done their part, he added, and will “stand ready in the background” to ensure the terms of any agreement are upheld.

“Operation Epic Fury was a historic and overwhelming victory on the battlefield, a capital-V military victory,” Hegseth said, portraying the war as a thing of the past. “By any measure, Epic Fury decimated Iran’s military and rendered it combat-ineffective for years to come.”

Caine congratulated U.S. troops involved in the campaign but was cautious to note that a “ceasefire is a pause” in combat operations, not necessarily the completion of them. The operation’s success, he said, is something that “we hope” will prove enduring.

As Wednesday wore on, Tehran accused the United States and Israel of violating certain terms of the agreement, and there were reports of Iranian retaliatory attacks throughout the region. Hours earlier, Hegseth had mocked Iranian leaders and their scrambled communications situation, saying they “would be wise to find a way to get the carrier pigeon to their troops out in remote locations” to let them know not to shoot. It can sometimes take time for ceasefires to take hold, he said.

“We’re watching it,” Hegseth said. “We’re prepared if necessary, but we hope and believe that it’ll hold.”

As he has done in other news conferences since the war began, Caine began his remarks by paying tribute to the 13 U.S. troops “killed in action thus far,” saying their sacrifice is “deeply important to us, and we were grateful.”

He also spoke glowingly of last week’s mission to rescue two American airmen who ejected from their F-15E fighter jet after the aircraft was targeted by Iranian ground fire.

“This is a story that gets to the very heart and soul of who we are as a joint force, who we are as Americans,” the general said. “Selfless sacrifice in service of others.”

The last five weeks of fighting destroyed much of Iran’s military infrastructure, according to the Pentagon. But it also significantly damaged U.S. installations across the region, which the Trump administration has been reluctant to discuss in detail. In addition to the 13 dead, about 370 U.S. troops have been wounded, at least 12 seriously, according to Pentagon data. Most of those injured have since returned to duty, officials have said.

The Pentagon’s senior officials convened the news conference as numerous issues remain unresolved about how the fragile peace might hold. Ongoing diplomatic efforts are expected to address the fate of Iran’s uranium stockpile, the future U.S. military presence in the Middle East and much more.

Trump has been intensely focused on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow passage in the Persian Gulf that Iran’s military effectively locked down once the war began. The move stifled global shipments of Middle Eastern oil and caused gas prices to rise sharply in the United States.

The conditional ceasefire agreement requires Iran to allow maritime traffic in the strait to resume immediately and safely, yet on Wednesday there were reports of Tehran tightening its control over the waterway. While two oil tankers passed through early in the day, with Iran’s permission, traffic has since stopped, Iranian state media reported.

Hegseth, asked whether U.S. warships will escort vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, did not answer directly.

“We are going to make sure Iran complies with this ceasefire and then ultimately comes to the table and makes a deal,” he said, adding that U.S. troops will be “prepared to start at a moment’s notice with whatever target package would be needed in order to ensure that Iran complied” with any peace deal.

Thus far, “Iran’s letting ships go through” the strait, Hegseth said, and “that will be happening.”

The defense secretary brushed aside a question about whether any ships will be required to coordinate with the Iranian military to pass. Iran, he said, “is going to say a lot of things,” but “what has been agreed to, what’s been stated, is that the strait is open.”

Caine, asked whether the strait was open, said, “I believe so, based on the diplomatic negotiation.”

The two Pentagon leaders did not have clear answers, either, for how Iran’s nuclear program might be handled in the future.

Hegseth said that “it’s always been nonnegotiable that they won’t have nuclear capabilities” and that this could be addressed by Iran giving up its enriched uranium, U.S. forces removing it, or through another aerial assault on the country’s nuclear facilities.

Asked whether Trump had been prepared to destroy Iranian civilization, as he had threatened, Hegseth described a plan short of that.

“We had a target set, locked and loaded, of infrastructure, bridges, power plants,” he said, describing some targets that could be used by both civilians and military personnel. “Remember, this is a terror regime, a military regime, [that] used all of these things for dual use to fund their military, to fund their terror campaigns. We had a lot of legitimate targets.”

Caine did not address the issue.