U.S. attacks on Iran will hit a new intensity Tuesday and the war will continue as long as President Donald Trump decides, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said. “Today will be yet again our most intense day of strikes inside Iran,” Hegseth told a news conference at the Pentagon more than 10 days into the U.S.-Israeli war against the Islamic republic. As for a timeline for the war, Trump “gets to control the throttle. He’s the one deciding,” Hegseth said. “It’s not for me to posit whether it’s the beginning, the middle or the end,” the defense secretary said. Among the goals of the conflict is the destruction of Iran’s navy, which has been targeted with “artillery, fighters, bombers and sea-launched missiles,” General Dan Caine, the top U.S. military officer, said alongside Hegseth. Iran has vowed to block all oil exports via the Gulf while the war lasts, while Trump has threatened “death, fire, and fury” if Tehran interferes with crude exports. Caine said U.S. forces continue “to hunt and strike mine-laying vessels and mine storage facilities” — weapons Iran could use to block maritime traff
