3 min readMar 31, 2026 06:57 PM IST
First published on: Mar 31, 2026 at 05:45 PM IST
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the coming days would be decisive in the war against Iran, revealing on Tuesday that he visited American troops in the Middle East over the weekend to witness ongoing military operations and assess the situation on the ground.
Hegseth, speaking alongside Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine at a Pentagon briefing, said he travelled to the region on Saturday, where he observed military operations and met personnel from the US Air Force and Navy, including some who had “just returned from the skies of Iran.” He added that two missiles were successfully intercepted during his visit.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine hold a briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on March 31, 2026. (REUTERS)
“I asked each young American, ‘what do you need?’ And nobody said better equipment, nobody said more comfortable living conditions, nobody said, ‘Send me home’. Well, of course, eventually we want all those things. They do too,” Hegseth said.
“But what those Americans said to me — young and old, officer and NCO (non-commissioned officer), male and female, Black and White — was, ‘Let’s finish the mission. Get us even more bombs, bigger bombs, more targets. Let us finish this.’”
Hegseth said the next few days in the Middle East conflict would be decisive, claiming that Iranian forces were facing growing pressure on the battlefield.
“We have more and more options, and they have less … in only one month we set the terms, the upcoming days will be decisive,” he said. “Iran knows that, and there’s almost nothing they can militarily do about it.”
Citing intelligence assessments, Hegseth said US strikes were weakening the morale of Iranian forces, triggering desertions, personnel shortages and frustration among senior commanders.
“We’re seeing major desertions,” he said, adding that the pressure on Iranian forces was intensifying.
US is confronting Russia, China: Hegseth
Hegseth also said the US is well aware of what China and Russia are doing to help Iran and are confronting those efforts where necessary. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had earlier said Russia has been supplying Iran with drones and intelligence to help Tehran.
Asked about reports of Russia and China aiding Iran, Hegseth said, “As far as Russia and China, we know exactly what they’re doing, what they are or are not doing.
“We don’t have to air publicly what all of that is, but where necessary, we’re addressing it, we’re mitigating it or we’re confronting it head on.”
Hegseth, citing intelligence, said the strikes were damaging the morale of the Iranian military. This, he said, was triggering widespread desertions, key personnel shortages and causing frustration amongst senior leaders.
(With inputs from agencies)
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. (File Photo) 
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine hold a briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on March 31, 2026. (REUTERS)
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