Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Friday that Iran’s newly appointed Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, had been “wounded and likely disfigured” in recent American-Israeli attacks. Hegseth also warned that the United States is undertaking the most intense day of bombing yet in Operation Epic Fury.
“We know the new so-called, not-so-supreme leader, is wounded and likely disfigured,” Hegseth told reporters during a press briefing. He described Khamenei’s first public statement since his elevation — delivered as a written message read aloud on Iranian state television — as “a weak one,” underscoring that the supreme leader did not appear on video or release an audio recording.
Khamenei has remained out of view since his selection on Sunday by Iran’s clerical establishment. In his missive, he vowed to “avenge the blood” of Iranians killed in the strikes.
Hegseth asserted American and Israeli forces have hit more than 15,000 targets since the war with Iran began, and he pledged the U.S. would escalate its bombing campaign even further on Friday.
“Today will be, yet again, the highest volume of strikes that America has put over the skies of Iran,” he said. ”The number of sorties, the number of bomber pulses. Ramping up, and only up.”
Hegseth said that just one percent of the weapons expected to be used in the ongoing campaign will be the costly long-range standoff munitions which are among the most expensive armaments in the U.S. arsenal.
The rest, he said, will be conventional weapons, of which the U.S. has “a plethora.” The comment appeared aimed at quelling concerns that the war has rapidly depleted critical American munitions stockpiles.
“We are on plan to defeat, destroy, disable all of their meaningful military capabilities,” Hegseth continued. “They also don’t have the ability to build more.”
Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, echoed Hegseth’s promise that the U.S. was in the process of conducting its heaviest day of kinetic fires. But he cautioned, “This mission remains complex, dangerous and difficult — and every service member has a family waiting for them to return home.”
Soon after the briefing, Central Command confirmed that all six U.S. service members aboard an Air Force KC-135 refueling aircraft were killed after it crashed in Iraq on Thursday while supporting operations in Iran.
“The circumstances of the incident are under investigation,” CENTCOM wrote in a post on X. “However, the loss of the aircraft was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire.”
The deaths bring the number of U.S. service members killed in operations related to Epic Fury to at least 13.
Tanya Noury is a reporter for Military Times and Defense News, with coverage focusing on the White House and Pentagon.