US defence secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday declared that Operation Epic Fury had "decimated" Iran's military, hours after the two nations agreed to a limited two-week ceasefire that is already being tested.
Operation Epic Fury is the US name for its coordinated joint strikes on Iran, with the help of Israel.
Speaking at a press conference, Hegseth noted that Iran had "begged" for the ceasefire, which came just minutes before the end of US President Donald Trump's 10-day ultimatum for Iran to agree to a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
He also claimed that the Pentagon had "done its part for now" and that Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei had been left "wounded and disfigured" after the war. However, joint chiefs of staff, General Dan Caine, warned that the ceasefire was just a pause, and that "the joint force remains ready, if ordered or called upon".
Iran, which has consistently denied that it has begged the US for a ceasefire at any point in the war, has not yet responded to Hegseth's claims.
Gulf nations like Kuwait and the UAE had reported air attacks from Iran hours after the two-week ceasefire deal was reached.
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Yet, a few ships have begun cautiously transiting the strait with no resistance as yet.
While Iran has managed to include a clause on taxing ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz in its 10-point proposal to end the war that Trump has called "workable", Oman has rejected such charges.
Hegseth also said that Iran would give the US its enriched uranium, or that the latter would "take it out".
However, officials have earlier flagged the statistics that Hegseth continues to claim, about the war in the Gulf, saying that he was not "speaking truth to the president", as per a Washington Post report.
"As a result, the president is out there repeating misleading information," the officials alleged, noting that despite Hegseth's claims of “complete control of Iranian skies” and “uncontested airspace", Iran's downing of the F-15E jet, the high-risk rescue operation, and other American casualties showed that Tehran still retained the power to threaten the US if needed.
