Pete Hegseth says the US is ramping up the Iran campaign with more force

Many US troops are heading to the Middle East, according to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, as the US escalates its campaign against Iran.

“The flow of power continues today. In fact, Admiral Cooper will receive even more power today,” Caine said when he spoke to the Pentagon on Monday morning, speaking with Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper.

Caine declined to give troop numbers, saying, “I don’t want to talk about specifics, because that would set off the enemy. We have tactical aircraft flowing into theater based on the time it took them to get out of there.”

“I think we’re about where we want to be in terms of the total combat power and combat capability of Admiral Cooper.”

Caine said additional forces were building up to a month-long redeployment of US assets across the region, including strike groups, advanced fighter jets and air defense systems, as the US prosecuted what officials described as “massive combat operations” that have resulted in 555 Iranian deaths, according to an Associated Press count, as of Monday morning.

Caine said the US’s goal in Iran is to “prevent Iran from becoming (a) power that produces energy outside of its borders.”

“This is not a revolutionary war, but the regime has changed and the world is better for it today,” added Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

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Hegseth said the mission was to destroy Iran’s missile and missile production, destroy its navy and ensure it has no capability to pursue a nuclear weapon.

The general warned that the operation “will take time” and admitted, “We expect more losses.” Four members of the US were killed in the operation, which began in the early hours of Saturday at Eastern Time.

Hegseth said service members were hit by an Iranian missile that penetrated air defenses at the command center.

Smoke billows in Tehran following an explosion on March 2, 2026, during US and Israeli military strikes. (Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)

Asked if there were American boots on the ground in Iran, Hegseth replied, “no,” but said the administration would not be listing future options over the phone.

“It’s one of the lies” that “this department or the presidents or others have to tell the American people — and our enemies, by the way — ‘this is exactly what we’re going to do,'” Hegseth said. “Nonsense.”

At the start of the operation, known as Epic Fury, Caine said more than 100 aircraft were launched on land and sea in parallel waves, including soldiers, tanks, electronic attack aircraft, bombers and unmanned aerial platforms. The US military and air force initially conducted non-kinetic operations designed to disrupt and degrade Iran’s ability to communicate and respond, he said.

Tomahawk missiles fired from US Navy ships attacked Iranian naval forces on the southern side, while direct attacks targeted command and control infrastructure, missile sites and intelligence facilities.

Secretary of the Army Pete Hegseth, left, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine takes questions during a press conference about US military action in Iran at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on March 2, 2026. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/via Getty Images)

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Caine said the opening phase reached more than 1,000 goals in the first 24 hours. American B-2 bombers flew a 37-hour round-trip flight from the continental United States to hit underground facilities with ballistic missiles, he added.

“We are now about 57 hours into the operation,” Caine said Monday, adding that the US military has deployed hundreds of machines and delivered tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition as the operation continues to grow.

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