Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday slammed a reporter's question about whether a U.S. strike on Iran's civilian infrastructure would be considered a war crime.
“Well, it's precisely the kind of disingenuous question that I'm used to from the media, impugning the motives of the folks on our side who are incredibly professional and incredibly effective,†Hegseth responded.
“We will hit them hard, on our terms, on the targets that improve the environment for us to operate in and undermine the capabilities that Iran wants to have,†he continued. “Again, they can't do that to us meaningfully, the way that we can to them.â€
The U.S. military reopened strikes against Iran this week, after the Iranian military shot down an Army helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz. Both U.S. service members in the crew were safely rescued after the incident.
U.S. forces carried out “self-defense strikes†against Iran's surveillance capabilities, communications systems and air defense sites, U.S. Central Command said Wednesday on social media.
President Trump threatened to strike Iran “VERY HARD TONIGHT†in a Truth Social post on Thursday morning and seize Kharg Island, which stores around 90 percent of the country's crude oil exports.
He told Fox News's “Fox and Friends†after the post that the U.S. military “dropped $250 million worth of bombs†on Iran on Wednesday, and he vowed a “bigger, more powerful†attack on the country for Thursday.
“They're really in submission. They just don't know it yet,†he told the outlet.
The president also addressed his previous threats to strike Iran's bridges and power plants.
“I'd rather not do it because once you do that, the people suffer,†he said on Fox. “Like, I heard you mentioning water. Water is really a devastating loss for them. I could do that in one minute, but the problem is the people won't be able to drink water.â€
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