US Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard has told the Intelligence Committee in the House of Representatives that the US and Israel have different objectives in the war on Iran.
Gabbard asserted that the objectives that have been laid out by “the President are different from the objectives that have been laid out by the Israeli government.”
“We can see through the operations that the Israeli government has been focused on disabling the Iranian leadership. The President has stated that his objectives are to destroy Iran’s ballistic missiles launching capability, their ballistic missile production capability and their navy.”
Tulsi Gabbard
Separately, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said in a news conference at the Pentagon that America’s objectives in Iran remain unchanged.
“Epic Fury is different. It’s laser focused, it’s decisive. Our objectives, given directly from our America First President, remain exactly what they were on day one.”
Pete Hegseth
He highlighted that Washington’s objectives include destroying missiles, launchers, and Iran’s industrial base so they cannot rebuild, destroying their navy, and ensuring Iran never gets a nuclear weapon.
“Iran has funnelled decades of state resources not to their people but into missiles and drones and buried facilities. But we are hunting them down … like no other military in the world can do and the results speak for themselves.”
Pete Hegseth
Hegseth declined to give a definitive timeframe on ending the US-Israeli operation in Iran.
Speaking at the news conference in the Pentagon, he said that Washington is looking at the metrics of the war closely and relaying that to the President and national security team.
“We’re very much on plan, and that’s why I want to speak to the American people here. You hear a lot of noise about widening and speculation about what we should and should not be doing. But there is a clear set of objectives, and the president has given us every capability we need to accomplish that.”
Pete Hegseth
US General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also provided operational updates during a news conference with Hegseth, stating that US attacks are stretching deeper into Iranian territory each day, including in eastern Iran.
He noted that efforts are continuing to “take out” Iran’s mine storage facilities and naval ammunition depots.
Sultan Barakat, a Professor at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar, opined that the messaging from Washington masks deeper contradictions over the Iran war and the role of Israel. His comments came after statements by the US Defence Secretary.
“The message that we were getting, the tone of the message that we were given in that press conference, was essentially: ‘Everybody’s on the same page. This is all going fine. This is all working really well.’”
Sultan Barakat
He added that US officials are trying to present unity, but the reality looks different.
“He [Hegseth] acknowledged there are two sets of goals: the United States’s goals, … and there are our allies’. … But when he was pressed, we’re talking about only one ally. That is Israel. It is clear that it is Israel who has decided and Israel who drew them into this and Israel is the side that’s going to decide when it will stop.”
Sultan Barakat
Barakat questioned the rationale for continuing the war on Iran, saying that Hegseth “could easily have announced a win. … ‘We achieved our objectives. We’re going to spare you the pain and the cost.’”
“I thought it was very interesting the way he discussed the issue of the $200bn for the cost of this as if it was just a small amount of money. … For the average taxpayer, it makes a difference.”
Sultan Barakat
US Warns Iran Against Targeting Arab Allies
Speaking at the press briefing at the Pentagon, US Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth warned Iran against target its allies in the Gulf region.
“Iran has the ability to make the right choices. It should not, going forward, target Arab allies, Arab countries, trying to create pain.”
Pete Hegseth
Moreover, Hegseth said that strikes on Iran’s military capabilities on Kharg Island give the US control over the fate of the country. The island, 30km (20 miles) off Iran’s mainland, is a hub for roughly 90 percent of its crude oil exports.
The United States attacked it over the weekend, but Iranian officials said exports are continuing normally and there were no casualties.
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