Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he and President Donald Trump are “willing to go as far as we need to go” to knock out Iran’s theocratic regime — and that includes sending American troops to Iran if necessary, he told 60 Minutes on Sunday night.
“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,” Hegseth said.
That answer came a moment after he told Major Garrett the U.S. did not have any “overt or covert forces” currently operating in Iran. But he smirked and was cagey with Garrett, telling him “Uh, I wouldn’t tell you that if we did.”
Hegseth said the press has been pushing for answers on how long Operation Epic Fury will last. He said it would be unwise to publicly share every detail of the administration’s plan, but that the ultimate goal is to “make sure their nuclear ambitions” are wiped out.
“People ask ‘Boots on the ground, no boots on the ground? Four weeks, two weeks, six weeks? Go in, go in.’ 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,” Hegseth said.
He added, “We’re willing to go as far as we need to in order to be successful.”
Garrett later mentioned a seventh U.S. soldier died on Sunday from injuries sustained from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Hegseth said those Americans did not die in vain.
“Things like this don’t happen without casualties. There will be more casualties… especially our generation knows what it’s like to see Americans come home in caskets,” Hegseth said. But that doesn’t weaken us one bit. It stiffens our spine and our resolve to say this is a fight we will finish.”
He also said the military was still investigating whether the U.S. or Iranian forces were responsible for a strike that killed approximately 160 people at a school.
Watch above via CBS.
The post Hegseth Tells 60 Minutes the Trump Admin Reserves The Right to Put Boots on the Ground in Iran: ‘We’re Willing to Go As Far As We Need’ first appeared on Mediaite.