US military launches new strikes against Iran after Trump and Hegseth promise to hit Tehran ‘hard’

The U.S. appeared to begin a major escalation in the conflict against Iran on Wednesday as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned that Iranian forces would be hit “hard” in the coming hours. Hegseth spoke to members of the press at U.S. Central Command headquarters on Wednesday afternoon and vowed significant retaliation for the downing of a U.S. Apache helicopter in the Strait of Hormuz this week. Minutes later, Centcom officials confirmed that strikes were underway. “Centcom will be busy tonight because the president has said that we will be hitting Iran hard,” said Hegseth. He cautioned, however, that the strikes were aimed at forcing Iran to accept a long-term agreement, not resuming full-scale war. "We will strike them hard tonight and hopefully Iran makes a good decision,” said Hegseth. “Iran has a chance to make a good deal, a great deal, to codify what they said they’ve been willing to do, and they haven’t been doing it.” “That’s not because we don’t want to restart anything we don’t have to restart,” added the Defense secretary. “It’s because the war department is prepared to set the terms to ensure that we have the kind of deal that President Trump expects.” #Iran #IranNews #IranWar #IranIsrael #USIran #BreakingNews #MiddleEast #Trump #IsraelNews #WorldNews Watch more on Independent TV: https://tinyurl.com/yc7ukx9n The Independent is the world’s most free-thinking newsbrand, providing global news, commentary and analysis for the independently-minded. Subscribe: https://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-Independent Find us on social: TikTok / https://www.tiktok.com/@independent Instagram / https://www.instagram.com/the.independent/ X (Twitter) / https://twitter.com/Independent Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/TheIndependentOnline Download the iOS & Android app: https://tinyurl.com/2s3ts5dh Sign up to our newsletters: https://tinyurl.com/2bmw565x Help to support truly independent journalism. Every dollar you contribute will directly fund additional special reports and investigations from a free-thinking, award-winning newsroom you can trust: https://www.independent.co.uk/donations