'They are toast and they know it,' Hegseth says of Iran on day 5 of Operation Epic Fury

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine delivered an update to reporters Wednesday morning on the status of the war in Iran as it entered its fifth day. Hegseth spoke in no uncertain terms, saying, "America is winning -- decisively, devastatingly, and without mercy."

Hegseth praised the combined muscle of the American and Israeli military forces, saying the two countries had achieved "total and complete" control over Iran's air space since Operation Epic Fury was launched Saturday. "They are toast, and they know it," Hegseth said at the press conference. "And we have only just begun to hunt, dismantle, demoralize, destroy, and defeat their capabilities -- just four days in."

The war secretary went on to explain that a U.S. submarine had sunk an Iranian naval warship. "The first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War Two," Hegseth noted. Caine added that the torpedo had an "immediate effect, sending the warship to the bottom" of the Persian Gulf. After the press briefing wrapped up, the Department of War posted video on X showing the ship, named for Qasem Soleimani, the military leader Trump had assassinated during his first term, being hit by the torpedo, and then posted photos of the vessel going down.

After hailing the quick-strike success over the first four days, Hegseth and Caine said more firepower was on the way. "More bombers and more fighters are arriving just today and now, with complete control of the skies, we will be using 500-pound, one thousand pound and 2,000-pound laser-guided precision gravity bombs, of which we have a nearly unlimited stockpile," Hegseth told reporters. 

At one point, Hegseth used a sports metaphor, comparing Iran's strategy to that of an NFL team that scripts its first 20 plays of the game. "But now that the game has started and the blitz is on," Hegeseth said. "They don't know what plays to call, let alone how to get in the huddle and call those plays.

More than 1,000 Iranians have been killed since the attack began. As of Wednesday morning, the U.S. death toll stood at six, according to government officials. And the U.S. has evacuated more than 9,000 Americans from the Middle East since the war began. Watch a clip from the press briefing below and watch the full update from Hegseth and Caine here.