Secretary Hegseth's Briefing
"Iran Will Face a Much Stronger Military Response if It Retaliates"
No Aim for Regime Change... Urges Negotiations
On the morning of June 22 (local time), U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth stated that "Iran's nuclear ambitions have been shattered" following the U.S. airstrikes on three major nuclear facilities in Iran the previous day, and urged Iran to enter negotiations.
At a briefing that day, Secretary Hegseth said that President Donald Trump's orders were "focused, powerful, and clear," and declared, "We have destroyed Iran's nuclear enrichment capabilities."
He explained, "The President authorized a precision operation to neutralize the threat posed by Iran's nuclear program to our national interests and to uphold the collective right of self-defense for our military and our ally, Israel."
Secretary Hegseth introduced President Trump's warning that "any retaliation by Iran against the United States will be met with a far stronger military response than what was witnessed today," and emphasized that "the United States will act swiftly and decisively if its interests are threatened."
On this day, Secretary Hegseth officially confirmed that the U.S. military used the stealth B-2 bomber to deploy a bunker buster in combat for the first time during the airstrike, which was named 'Operation Midnight Hammer.' He assessed, "In that sense, this attack was historic."
However, he made it clear that the purpose of this attack was not regime change, and again called on Iran to negotiate.
Secretary Hegseth stressed that the airstrikes the previous night "were not, and are not now, related to regime change in Iran." He explained, "We are delivering both official and unofficial messages directly to Iran through multiple channels," and added, "Through this, we are giving Iran every opportunity to come to the negotiating table."
According to Eastern Time, on June 21 in the afternoon, the United States attacked three major nuclear facilities in Iran: Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. In a national address at the White House the previous day, President Trump described the operation as a "dramatic success" and stated, "Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally eliminated." He explained that the purpose of the attack was "to destroy Iran's nuclear enrichment capabilities and to deter the nuclear threat posed by the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism."
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