June 22, 2025

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth insisted Sunday that U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities were not intended to bring about regime change in Tehran, but laid out no plans for avoiding a deeper escalation should the country retaliate and said officials didn’t yet know the full extent of the damage.

The Pentagon chief and Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Dan Caine, in a Sunday morning press conference, said the three nuclear sites sustained “severe damage,” but that it was too soon to assess whether Iran still possessed nuclear capabilities.

“This mission was not, has not been about regime change,” Hegseth said.

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