Iranian Missile Strikes Fall to Lowest Level Seen During War As ‘Widespread Desertions’ Squeeze Regime’s Fighting Force, Hegseth Says

Iranian missile strikes have dropped to their "lowest number" yet over the past 24 hours, as Operation Epic Fury sparks "widespread desertions" among Tehran's fighting force, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday morning.

"The last 24 hours saw the lowest number of enemy missiles and drones fired by Iran," Hegseth told reporters at the Pentagon. "Our strikes are damaging the morale of the Iranian military, leading to widespread desertions, key personnel shortages, and causing frustrations amongst senior leaders."

"They will go underground, but we will find them," Hegseth said of the Islamic Republic’s remaining leadership. "We recently destroyed another one of their command bunkers. Leaders forced to flee, no water, no power, no oxygen, no command and control. Their faith in their caves diminishing."

The chaos and confusion inside the regime has allowed U.S. forces to penetrate deeper into Iran, hitting missile systems and other targets based on real-time intelligence. The United States conducted some 200 dynamic strikes through Monday evening, with fighter pilots being fed updated targeting information mid-air. These types of attacks have allowed the U.S. military to take out Iran’s mobile missile launchers and troop formations while they move into place.

"A dynamic target is one that changes while you're in the air because of improved intelligence, 200 dynamic strikes alone, in addition to the pre-planned targets," Hegseth said, confirming that among the targets was an ammunition depot inside Iran’s Esfahan nuclear complex. Trump posted a video of the strike Monday evening on Truth Social, showing 2,000 pound bunker busters hammering the military site.

"The upcoming days will be decisive," Hegseth said. "Iran knows that, and there's almost nothing they can militarily do about it. Yes, they will still shoot some missiles, but we will shoot them down."

Hegseth said that Iran’s remaining leadership would be wise to strike a deal with Trump while the offer remains on the table.

"The new Iranian regime should know that by now this new regime, because regime change has occurred, should be wiser than the last," he said. "President Trump will make a deal, he is willing, and the terms of the deal are known to them. If Iran is not willing, then the United States War Department will continue with even more intensity."

The U.S. military has struck more than 11,000 targets over the past 30 days and is now conducting the first "overland missions" with B-52 bomber planes, according to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, who spoke alongside Hegseth. These missions have allowed U.S. troops "to get on top of the enemy," pressuring regime assets as they move across the battlefield.

Attack helicopters have also joined the fight, bringing "close air support assets into the naval domain," Caine said. These operations have helped sink more than 150 Iranian ships, including all of the Islamic Republic’s advanced Jamaran class frigates, which are designed to destroy submarines from long distances.

"We continue to prosecute our campaign against their defense industrial base at scale," Caine said. "This includes factories, warehouses, nuclear weapons, research and development labs, and the associated infrastructure required for Iran to reconstitute its combat capability."

Hegseth said in the press conference that the United States remains focused on opening the Strait of Hormuz but noted that the issue "is not just the United States of America’s problem set."

Trump, in a Tuesday morning Truth Social post, said that Western allies like the United Kingdom need to "build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT. You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us. Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil!"

Trump has also recently floated the possibility of seizing Iran’s main oil hub, Kharg Island, and Hegseth indicated those plans could be put into action soon.

"Our adversary right now thinks there are 15 different ways we could come at them with boots on the ground," Hegseth said. "And guess what: There are."

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