Friday 13 / March / 2026
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth also warned that the US was preparing "the highest volume of strikes" ever over Iran on Friday.
"Today will be yet again the highest volume of strikes that America has put over the skies of Iran and Tehran," Hegseth said during a press briefing in Washington.
"The number of sorties, the number of bomber pulses, [are] the highest yet, ramping up and only up," Hegseth said, adding that that over 15,000 targets in Iran have been struck so far.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Caine, also said Friday that the US would launch the most intense attacks since the assault on Iran began nearly two weeks ago.
US President Donald Trump in an interview with Fox News on Friday said the US would be intensifying strikes on Iran in the coming days.
"We're going to be hitting them very hard over the next week," Trump told Fox News Radio.
Trump has been giving mixed signals on ending the war over the past week, suggesting that there was "practically nothing" left to target in Iran, while also implying the US would "finish the job."
