US Defence Secretary predicts ‘the most fighters, the most bombers, the most strikes’, adding Trump will decide on war’s final timeline
2-MIN READ2-MIN ListenLucy Quagginin New YorkPublished: 1:51am, 11 Mar 2026Updated: 1:56am, 11 Mar 2026Tuesday will be the “most intense day of strikes” inside Iran so far, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said, adding that President Donald Trump will ultimately decide the war’s timeline.The Pentagon chief’s remarks follow the president’s comments on Monday, suggesting the war could be over sooner than expected. For now, fighting appeared to be ramping up.
“As President Trump declared yesterday, we’re crushing the enemy in an overwhelming display of technical skill and military force. We will not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated,” he said.
A day earlier, Trump claimed US military objectives in Iran were nearly complete, with vague comments suggesting the war could end “very soon”.
Trump says US objectives in Iran ‘way ahead of schedule’ and attacks may end ‘soon’
Trump says US objectives in Iran ‘way ahead of schedule’ and attacks may end ‘soon’Tehran responded, vowing the war would end on its own terms. “It is we who will determine the end of the war,” Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement.
