Hegseth: US willing to go as far as needed to knock out Iran regime, including boots on the ground

US Defense Secretary says Iranian surrender is inevitable, adds Trump administration is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve victory, including deploying ground forces to Iran.

By World Israel News Staff

Iran’s unconditional surrender is only a matter of time, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared, adding that the Trump administration is prepared to do whatever it takes to bring the Islamic Republic “to their knees.”

On Sunday, CBS News aired an interview with Hegseth that was recorded two days prior.

During the interview, Hegseth said that the US had already struck some 3,000 targets in Iran, and that the joint American-Israeli attacks would soon leave Iran unable to respond militarily.

Hegseth said that Operation Epic Fury is continuing to intensify, amid reports that the US Navy has ordered a third carrier battle group, centered around the USS George H.W. Bush, to the Middle East.

“This is only the beginning,” Hegseth said. “This is war. This is conflict. This is bringing your enemy to their knees. Now, whether they will have a ceremony in Tehran Square and surrender, that’s up to them.”

Emphasizing that the decision to strike was made in response to Iran’s refusal to scrap its uranium enrichment program, Hegseth said President Trump and the administration are prepared to go “as far as we need” to defeat the Iranian regime, including potentially deploying ground forces to Iran.

“President Trump knows, I know, you don’t tell the enemy, you don’t tell the press, you don’t tell anybody what your limits would be on an operation. We’re willing to go as far as we need to in order to be successful,” Hegseth said.

When asked specifically whether the US might deploy ground troops, Hegseth said the administration will not rule out the possibility.

“We reserve the right. We would be completely unwise if we did not reserve the right to take any particular option, whether it included boots on the ground or no boots on the ground.”

One way or another, Hegseth emphasized, Iran “will surrender.”

“We’ll know when they’re not capable of fighting. There’ll be a point where they’ll have no choice but to do that.”