The Secretary of War cautioned that additional casualties are anticipated in the ongoing Operation Epic Fury in Iran, as seven U.S. soldiers have been killed thus far in the conflict.
Hegseth shared this during a CBS “60 Minutes” interview broadcast on Sunday.
“The president was correct to state ,” Hegseth noted. “Operations like this don’t occur without losses.”
“There will be further casualties,” he added. “And no one — particularly our generation — knows what it’s like to see Americans returned in caskets, but that doesn’t weaken us at all. It strengthens our resolve and determination to see this fight through to the end.”
Six U.S. service members lost their lives in a March 1 Iranian drone strike at Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, while supporting . The U.S. military reported a seventh service member died from injuries sustained in an Iranian attack on troops in Saudi Arabia the same day.
Last week, the U.S. and Israel against Iran. Iran has struck back, carrying out attacks on Israel and nearby Gulf Arab nations, such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
On Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi told that if the U.S. sends ground troops into Iran, “we have extremely brave soldiers ready to confront, fight, and eliminate any enemy that invades our territory.”
“We will never give up or surrender; we will resist for as long as necessary,” he stated. “We are defending ourselves, our land, our people, and our dignity—and our dignity is not something we will trade.”
When reporters questioned President Donald Trump on Air Force One Saturday about used in the Iran operation, Trump said there would “need to be an excellent reason.”
“And I can say that if we ever took that step, [Iran] would be so devastated they couldn’t fight on the ground,” Trump told reporters.