WASHINGTON, November 10. /TASS/. The United States has destroyed over 80% of Iran's nuclear industry during the US-Israeli operation against the Islamic republic, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said.
"Their navy sunk, their air force grounded, their defense industrial base gone, more than 80 percent of their nuclear industrial base gone, their military in ruin, the ironclad blockade unbroken," the Pentagon chief said at a press conference.
However, Hegseth said that Washington does not intend to launch an operation that could lead to large-scale US human losses.
"This Epic Fury has never been that, and it never will be," the minister said. He said that the United States lost 60,000 troops in Vietnam, and 37,000 in Korea. According to Pentagon, to date, 15 people were killed and 417 wounded during the war with Iran.
The United States and Israel started a war with Iran on February 28. In June, Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding providing for an immediate cessation of hostilities on all fronts. However, on the night of July 8, the United States resumed large-scale strikes against Iran, accusing it of violating the agreements on the Strait of Hormuz. About 25% of the world's oil trade and about 20% of liquefied natural gas are transported through it. Later the US administration actually signaled the cessation of the use of large-scale military force against Iran and the transition to an attempt to strangle it with sanctions.