US War Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday (March 13) that Iran’s missile capabilities have been severely degraded following sustained US and Israeli military strikes, claiming the country’s missile volume has dropped dramatically and its weapons production capacity has been largely destroyed.
Speaking at a Pentagon press conference, Hegseth said: “Iran has no air defenses. Iran has no air force. Iran has no navy. Their missiles, their missile launchers and drones are being destroyed or shot out of the sky. Their missile volume is down 90%. Their one-way attack drones yesterday, down 95%.”
Iran’s missile production ‘functionally defeated, destroyed’
The Pentagon chief said strikes had targeted facilities across Iran responsible for building ballistic missiles and their components.
“As of two days ago, Iran’s entire ballistic missile production capacity — every company that builds every component of those missiles — has been functionally defeated, destroyed,” Hegseth said.
“Buildings, complexes and factory lines all across Iran, destroyed. So we’re shooting down and destroying what missiles they still have in stock, but more importantly, ensuring that they have no ability to make more.”
Ending Iran’s nuclear program a ‘core mission’
Hegseth also said eliminating Iran’s nuclear weapons capability remains a central objective of the US campaign.
“We’ve said from the beginning: deny Iran nuclear weapons,” he said.
The defense secretary noted that the administration of Donald Trump is focused on ensuring Iran cannot produce nuclear weapons again, though he declined to say whether ground forces might be needed to secure enriched uranium supplies or nuclear facilities.
He added that Washington would welcome a decision by Iran’s leadership to voluntarily dismantle the program.
