From the Liveblog of
Thursday, March 19, 2026
Hegseth: US to launch ‘largest strike package yet’ on Iran today
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleNava Freiberg is The Times of Israel's deputy diplomatic correspondent.
United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says that the US will today carry out “the largest strike package yet” in the ongoing US-Israeli aerial assault against Iran, during opening remarks in a Pentagon briefing.
“To date, we’ve struck over 7,000 targets across Iran and its military infrastructure. That is not incremental. That is overwhelming force applied with precision. And again, today will be the largest strike package yet, just like yesterday was,” Hesgeth says on the 19th day of the operation.
“We’re winning decisively and on our terms,” Hesgseth says, hitting back at concerns in US media that the conflict could turn into a “forever war,” saying that “nothing could be further from the truth,” and calling the operation “laser-focused.”
He warns that “the last job anyone in the world wants right now” are the positions of “senior leader for the IRGC, or Basij,” calling them “temp jobs.”
The war objectives remain to “destroy missiles, launchers, and Iran’s defense industrial base so they cannot rebuild. Destroy their navy, and [ensure] Iran never gets a nuclear weapon,” Hegseth says.
The Times of Israel Community.