US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said tonight that the United States will strike hard at Iran with bombs on key facilities — not to restart the war, but to set the terms for a deal. His remarks, reported by Israeli sources, come as the US appears to be on the verge of a major offensive against Iranian strategic targets, following hours of escalating official threats and preparations for additional waves of strikes.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in a statement reported by Israeli sources around 23:41 IDT, has clarified that the planned strikes on Iran tonight are not intended to restart a full-scale war but to set the military conditions for a negotiated deal. The remark adds explicit framing to a night of escalating threats — Hegseth had earlier used the metaphorical phrase "tap, tap, tap bombs dropping on key facilities," and in subsequent reports described the strikes as "clear and powerful" and warned Iran it would "tremble." The new formulation, first published by The Zioneer at 23:41, is the first time a senior US official has publicly defined a limited political objective for the operation.
This latest statement is the culmination of a rapid sequence of US signals throughout Tuesday. At approximately 18:27 UTC (21:27 IDT), The Zioneer reported that US officials were briefing that a major offensive using bombers and fighters was imminent. By 20:21 UTC (23:21 IDT), President Trump had convened a Situation Room discussion on further strikes. At 20:41 UTC (23:41 IDT), the desk published four consecutive bulletins covering Hegseth's threat in escalating language — from a general warning, to a specific "tremble" threat, to an explicit alignment with Trump's alert, to the current formulation describing the strikes as "clear and powerful." The corroboration has remained consistent across multiple Israeli news outlets (N12, i24NEWS), all attributing the remarks to Hegseth via Israeli sources — no direct US confirmation has been published.
As The Zioneer has reported in earlier bulletins, the target list is expected to include Iranian power plants, which were cited in a Monday report as likely targets for a planned additional wave. A senior US official was also quoted earlier Tuesday warning that Israel intends to strike major Iranian facilities independently. Taken together, the US and Israeli postures suggest a coordinated but separate set of operations.
What remains unverified is the precise timing of the strikes — "tonight" may refer to the hours ahead in Washington (evening ET) — and whether the US will coordinate its window with Israel's own stated readiness. No official US transcript or on-record briefing has been released; all details rely on single-source Israeli media attributions.
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