Pentagon Says ‘Not Endless War’

2 min readUpdated: Mar 2, 2026 08:12 PM United States Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Monday said the conflict between US and Iran is “not an endless war” while addressing the Pentagon news conference. Hegseth said during the conference that US’ mission in the escalating conflict is to deny nuclear weapons to Tehran and destroy their missiles.
“We’re hitting ​them ‌surgically, overwhelmingly and unapologetically,” ‌Hegseth ​said ​during ​a press conference ​at the Pentagon.
He also warned that the conflict in Iran will “include casualties,” and will only end on ‘America First’ conditions. Hegseth, along with Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, held the Trump adminration’s first news briefing since Saturday’s strikes.
The Pentagon chief further added that the US is not ruling out any options in war with Iran, insing that America “fights to win.”

Key highlights from Pete Hegseth’s briefing 

Hegseth, during the briefing, said, “This is not Iraq. This is not endless.” His words came a day after US President Donald Trump told the Daily Mail that the ongoing conflict could end in about four weeks.
Hegseth said the operation had a “clear, devastating, decisive mission” to “destroy the missile threat” from Iran, destroy its navy and “no nukes.” “This is not a so-called regime change war, but the regime sure did change and the world is better off for it,” Hegseth said.
Addressing the family members of US troops killed in action, the Pentagon chief said, “We grieve with you, and we will never forget you.” Meanwhile, Caine on Monday said the US expected to have additional losses.
While speaking about the timeline for the US-Israeli conflict with ‌Iran, Hegseth said it was up to ⁠⁠Donald Trump to ⁠decide ‌the ​length ‌of the military ‌campaign ​against Tehran.
“No stupid rules of engagement, no nation building quagmire, no democracy building exercise, no politically correct wars. We fight to win, and we don’t waste time or lives,” Hegseth said.