US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed Friday to “finish this fight” with Iran as he addressed a Pentagon ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, Anadolu reports.
Hegseth spoke alongside President Donald Trump and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at the ceremony commemorating the victims of the attacks and honouring US military personnel and first responders.
“There are still enemies who hate us,” Hegseth said, warning that adversaries continue to seek to curb US power and kill American citizens, adding that Washington remains “vigilant” in the face of such threats.
Turning to Iran, Hegseth said the US had “laid waste” to what he described as the “world’s most prolific state sponsor of terrorism” over the past six months.
He accused Iran’s leadership of wishing the US “death for nearly half a century” and of cheering the Sept. 11 attacks and sponsoring attacks against Americans for decades.
