JUST IN: U.S. Military Drops Explosive Video From Iran Operations
JUST IN: U.S. Military Drops Explosive Video From Iran Operations
The Department of War has released the first images and videos of U.S. military actions against Iran as the campaign against the regime extends into its third day. Operation Epic Fury has so far claimed the lives of four U.S. military personnel and wounded more than a dozen others.
Early on Monday, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth declared that the primary focus of the U.S. military operation in Iran is the use of lasers.
“Destroy Iranian missiles, destroy Iranian missile production, destroy their navy and other security infrastructure and they will never have nuclear weapons,” said Hesgeth, who was joined by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine.
Hegseth declined to give a timeframe for the operation, but he insisted it would not be “endless.”
“This is not Iraq,” Hegseth said. “This is not endless. I was there for both — our generation knows better, and so does this president. He called the last 20 years of nation-building wars dumb and he’s right. This is the opposite. This operation is a clear, devastating, decisive mission: Destroy the missile threat, destroy the navy, no nukes.”
Hegseth said there are no U.S. military “boots on the ground” in Iran right now, but said he would not “go into the exercise of what we will or will not do” in the future.
Caine said it will “take some time for us to conduct a battle damage assessment, and the targeting that CENTCOM will run will take those things into effect.”
At least 11 people have been killed in Israel. The Iranian Red Crescent says 555 people have been killed in Iran.
Caine said it will “take some time for us to conduct a battle damage assessment, and the targeting that CENTCOM will run will take those things into effect.”
Hegseth on Monday accused Iran of having started the war, saying Iran’s “stubborn and self-evident nuclear pursuit” as well as “targeting global shipping lines.”
“Iran had a conventional gun to our head as they tried to lie their way to a nuclear bomb,” Hegseth said to a room full of reporters on Monday morning with an important update.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told a gaggle of reporters on Saturday, following U.S. and Israel strikes on Iran, that “the old world” he grew up in “is gone,” while urging American allies to realize that and help Washington forge a new path forward for the West.
“The world is changing very fast right in front of us,” Rubio said. “The old world is gone, frankly, the world I grew up in, and we live in a new era of geopolitics, and it’s gonna require all of us to sort of reexamine what that looks like and what our role is going to be.”
He added, “We’ve had many of these conversations in private with many of our allies. We need to continue to have those conversations.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Saturday that Rubio notified senior congressional leaders ahead of the joint U.S. Israeli military operation against Iran.
Leavitt’s statement, posted to X, came as critics questioned whether President Donald Trump authorized the strikes without the required approval from Congress.
“President Trump monitored the situation overnight at Mar a Lago alongside members of his national security team. The President spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu by phone,” Leavitt wrote.
“Prior to the attacks, Secretary Rubio called all members of the gang of eight to provide congressional notification, and he was able to reach and brief seven of the eight members,” she added.
“The President and his national security team will continue to closely monitor the situation throughout the day.”
Leavitt did not indicate whether Trump would return to Washington or remain at his Florida residence.
The so-called “Gang of Eight” includes the Senate and House majority and minority leaders, as well as the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate intelligence committees.
Under the 1947 National Security Act, Congress must be kept “fully informed” of significant intelligence activities.
However, according to the Harvard Kennedy School, presidents from both parties have interpreted that language to mean that notifying the “Gang of Eight” satisfies the requirement rather than briefing the full intelligence committees.
Report: Iran Was Nearing Nuclear Capabilities While Negotiating ‘Peace’
Oman’s foreign minister said Feb. 27 that negotiations with Iran had produced a potential breakthrough on the country’s nuclear program, even as the Islamic Republic was continuing to secretly advance its nuclear weapons program.
Speaking during an interview on CBS in Washington, the minister said Iranian officials had agreed in principle to eliminate their stockpile of enriched uranium, permit full monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and convert existing nuclear material into reactor fuel.
According to the minister, the proposal would involve irreversible steps to prevent the material from being used for weapons purposes while allowing international inspectors to verify compliance.
“This is something completely new,” he said. “If you cannot stockpile material that is enriched, then there is no way you can actually create a bomb.”
On the same day that Oman announced a reported breakthrough in nuclear negotiations with Iran, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) circulated a confidential report raising concerns about undeclared nuclear material, Vision Times reported.
The agency said it was unable to verify the exact size, composition, or precise location of the material. Inspectors also reported what they described as a “loss of continuity of knowledge” regarding Iran’s nuclear inventory, indicating that monitoring gaps had prevented the agency from maintaining a complete record of the material’s status.
Analysts reviewing intelligence reports, satellite imagery and international monitoring data say evidence suggests Iran continued advancing aspects of its nuclear program while diplomatic negotiations were underway.
According to the assessments, Tehran allegedly concealed portions of its nuclear activities from international inspectors while expanding construction of hardened facilities tied to the program. The developments were reported to have occurred during the months preceding military strikes on Iranian nuclear infrastructure in early 2026, the outlet reported.
Four strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities during the ongoing U.S.-Israeli military campaign highlight both allies’ determination to eliminate Iran’s remaining pathways to nuclear weapons, said a separate report.
The attacks, which appear to be carried out by Israel, targeted several locations: a covert nuclear weapons development site known as Minzadehei; entrances to enrichment facilities at Natanz; structures within the nuclear complex at Isfahan; and a laboratory in the Lavisan 2/Mojdeh complex that houses facilities operated by Iran’s nuclear weapons program’s administrative arm, SPND, the separate report added.
Diplomatic discussions in late February focused on a proposed framework that would significantly restrict Iran’s nuclear program, according to officials familiar with the talks, Vision Times noted.
Under the proposal, Iran would stop accumulating enriched uranium, permit comprehensive monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and convert existing nuclear material into reactor fuel. The measures were intended to limit Iran’s ability to produce weapons-grade material while allowing for international oversight.
However, a confidential IAEA report circulated around the same time raised questions about whether such commitments could be effectively verified. Agency inspectors had already warned of a “loss of continuity of knowledge” regarding Iran’s nuclear materials after access to key facilities had been restricted for several months, said the outlet.
The report said Iran had concealed a stockpile of uranium enriched to 60 percent purity in an underground tunnel complex at the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center.
Because inspectors lacked access to several enrichment sites, the IAEA said it could not confirm the full size, composition, or precise location of Iran’s nuclear stockpile.
Military strikes targeting Iran’s nuclear infrastructure began the following day, Vision Times added.
For years, international monitoring of Iran’s nuclear program focused on whether Tehran would enrich uranium to 90 percent purity, the level widely considered weapons-grade.
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However, some researchers have suggested that lower enrichment levels could still pose proliferation risks. In July 2025, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists published research indicating that 60 percent-enriched uranium could be used in crude nuclear devices without additional enrichment.
A separate study by physicists at Illinois State University estimated that approximately 40 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent could produce a device with an explosive yield of about one kiloton, said Vision Times.
