‘Orders from Trump were focused’: US defence secretary Pete Hegseth says attack on Iran involved ‘misdirection and…’

Calling US strikes on Iran's nuclear sites on Sunday morning “incredible and overwhelming success”, the Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth said that President Donald Trump's order was focused, powerful and clear.

"The order we received from our commander-in-chief [Trump] was focused, it was powerful, and it was clear we devastated the Iranian nuclear program,” he told reporters at the Pentagon on Sunday.

“This is a plan that took months and weeks of positioning and preparation, so that we could be ready when the President of the United States called,” he told reporters.

“It took a great deal of precision. It involved misdirection," he added.

Israel-Iran War LIVE Update

Hegseth said the strikes did not target Iranian troops or people, but they did obliterate Iran's nuclear ambitions, news agency Reuters reported.

"The operation President Trump planned was bold and it was brilliant, showing the world that American deterrence is back. When this President speaks, the world should listen," Hegseth said.

Trump "seeks peace, and Iran should take that path," he added.

The US military struck three sites in Iran early Sunday, inserting itself into Israel’s effort to decapitating Iran's nuclear program in a risky gambit to weaken a longtime foe amid Tehran’s threat of reprisals that could spark a wider regional conflict.

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency confirmed that attacks targeted the country’s Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz nuclear sites. US President Donald Trump warned of additional strikes if Iran retaliates.

Israel's ‘variety of goals’ in Iran

Israel has “a variety of goals” in Iran, a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Sunday, noting that the IDF was continuing its military offensive in the country after the US launched strikes against Iranian nuclear sites overnight, according to a CNN report.

“We have plans and goals, and we constantly operate to achieve them. We’re also preparing for the campaign to prolong,” IDF spokesperson Effie Defrin said at a media briefing.

Israel still has a “variety of goals” in Iran, he added, without specifying what they are.

He said the IDF is “examining” the results of the US bombing of a key Iranian nuclear site and that Israel is “constantly examining and looking into the situation” at Iran’s Fordow nuclear enrichment facility, which was struck by the US in its attack along with the facilities of Natanz and Isfahan, the report added.

“Our coordination with the American partner has been close over the years and has become even closer more recently,” Defrin said. “Simultaneously, the IDF continues to strike in Iran.”

(With inputs from agencies)