Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on the village of Taybeh in southern Lebanon as seen from nearby Marjeyoun on March 10, 2026. RABIH DAHER / AFP
US attacks on Iran will hit a new intensity Tuesday, March 10, and the war will continue as long as President Donald Trump decides, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said. "Today will be yet again, our most intense day of strikes inside Iran – the most fighters, the most bombers," Hegseth told a news conference at the Pentagon more than 10 days into the US-Israeli war against the Islamic Republic.
As for a timeline for the war, Trump "gets to control the throttle. He's the one deciding," Hegseth said. "It's not for me to posit whether it's the beginning, the middle or the end," he said.
Trump had said the previous day that the war could end "very soon," but remained vague.
Among the goals is the destruction of Iran's navy, which has been targeted with "artillery, fighters, bombers and sea-launched missiles," General Dan Caine, the top US military officer, said alongside Hegseth on Tuesday.
