At a tense Pentagon press conference, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine confirmed that the U.S. preemptively evacuated personnel from regional bases on Monday after receiving intelligence of an imminent Iranian attack.
Hegseth strongly criticized media outlets like CNN and The New York Times for what he called “fawning” and premature coverage of a leaked Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) report. He claimed the report was low-confidence, not vetted by the intelligence community, and based on uncertain assumptions. Contradicting the leak, Hegseth cited statements from global sources—including Israel, the UN nuclear watchdog, and the CIA—that confirmed U.S. strikes caused severe damage to Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, setting the program back “by years.” General Caine backed the operation’s effectiveness, while Hegseth accused the press of rooting against the success of the mission due to political bias against Trump. The strikes are being framed by the Pentagon as a historic blow to Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
