US strikes on Iran peak as Trump warns Tehran over Hormuz oil routes
The Pentagon said its campaign in Iran will reach new levels of daily strikes just hours after President Donald Trump placed the onus on Iran not to escalate further.
WASHINGTON — The US air and naval strike campaign in Iran was reaching its apex, a top Pentagon official said Tuesday, after President Donald Trump appeared to condition further escalation on Iranian threats to oil shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz.
“Today will be yet again our most intense day of strikes inside Iran. The most fighters, the most bombers [and] the most strikes," US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters at the Pentagon.
At the same time, defense officials credited the US strike campaign with sharply reducing Iran's retaliatory drone and ballistic missile attacks on neighboring countries. "The last 24 hours have seen Iran fire the lowest number of missiles they've been capable of firing yet," Hegseth said.
US warplanes began striking Iranian drone manufacturing facilities on Monday, shifting to a new phase of the campaign enabled by the degradation of Iran's air defenses and missile launchers, officials said.
