US using twice the air power in Iran compared to 2003’s Shock and Awe invasion of Iraq, Hegseth says: ‘They are toast’

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth declared Wednesday that the US-Israeli bombing campaign against Iran is deploying “twice the air power” of the notorious “shock and awe” airstrikes that kicked off the American invasion of Iraq in 2003 — and the two allies were close to locking down “complete control of Iranian skies.”

“Starting last night and to be completed in a few days — in under a week — the two most powerful air forces in the world will have complete control of Iranian skies, uncontested airspace,” Hegseth told reporters at the Pentagon.

“It means we will fly all day, all night, day and night, finding, fixing and finishing the missiles and defense industrial base of the Iranian military, finding and fixing their leaders and military leaders,” he added. “ … Iran will be able to do nothing about it.”

The overwhelming strength and scale of US weaponry deployed to the region has already taken a toll on Iran’s arsenal.

Since the start of the war, the regime is firing 86% fewer ballistic missiles and 73% fewer attack drones, Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said at a joint press conference.

The slowdown could indicate Iran has run through a significant chunk of its resources less than a week into the conflict, or that it’s keeping weaponry on reserve in a bid to prolong the battle.

“They are toast, and they know it,” continued Hegseth, who noted that Iran has cut off internet access to prevent the outside world from seeing the remarkable display of firepower. “Or at least, soon enough, they will know it. We have only just begun to hunt, dismantle, demoralize, destroy and defeat their capabilities.”

In the first 24 hours of the invasion to topple Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, US forces launched 1,700 aerial sorties against Baghdad and other regime targets, including more than 500 cruise missiles.

Operation Epic Fury is also proceeding at “seven times the intensity of Israel’s previous operations against Iran during the 12-Day War” this past June, Hegseth claimed.

War by the numbers

According to Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, allied forces have already hit more than 2,000 targets inside Iran.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Republic’s retaliatory capabilities are suffering, with ballistic missile launches down 86% from the start of the war Feb. 28 and 23% in the past 24 hours; attack drone launches down 73% from the opening days of the conflict; and more than 20 Iranian naval vessels sunk — including a so-called “Soleimani-class” ship torpedoed off Sri Lanka overnight.

As Hegseth put it, Iran’s navy now “rests at the bottom of the Persian Gulf — combat ineffective, decimated, destroyed, not a factor, pick your adjective.”

Hegseth likened Iran’s frantic targeting of its neighbors and US military installations with aircraft, missiles and drones to a football team that scripted the “first 20 plays of a game,” but as time goes on, “they don’t know what plays to call, let alone how to get in the huddle.”

Meanwhile, the USS Gerald R. Ford and USS Abraham Lincoln strike groups are pounding targets from the sea, while US bombers — including B-2s, B-52s and B-1s — and Israeli aircraft press the air campaign from above.

“We’re playing for keeps,” the secretary added. “Our war fighters have maximum authorities, granted personally by the president, and yours truly.”

“It’s very early, and as President Trump has said, we will take all the time we need to make sure that we succeed.”

Follow The Post’s coverage of the United States’ airstrikes on Iran:

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As its supplies dwindle, Iran has grown “indiscriminate and more imprecise in their attacks,” according to Caine, who revealed that the theocratic regime has “fired more than 500 ballistic missiles and more than 2,000 drones striking innocent civilian targets throughout the region.”

What’s next

With air superiority established, the US is now planning to hit targets further inland over the next 24 to 48 hours with focus on infrastructure and remaining missile launchers, said Caine, insisting that the military has “sufficient precision munitions for the task at hand, both on the offense and defense.”

Before the war broke out, multiple reports indicated that Caine had concerns about dwindling US stockpiles if a prolonged fight with Iran took place. President Trump publicly denied those reports and has since said that his administration has taken emergency steps to replenish American firepower.

The general also laid out three goals of Operation Epic Fury: eliminating Tehran’s ballistic missile system, destroying Iran’s navy and capacity to conduct operations in the Middle East, and “ensuring Iran cannot rapidly rebuild or reconstitute its combat capability.”

Both leaders stressed Wednesday’s press conference was not a “mission accomplished” moment.

“We are accelerating, not decelerating,” Hegseth said.

Meanwhile, US and Israeli forces took out the Iranian official behind a plan to assassinate President Trump in the final days of the 2024 election campaign.

Hegseth did not identify the individual, but Israeli media named him as Rahman Mokadam, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ special operations division.

According to federal prosecutors, the IRGC tasked Farhad Shakeri, 51, in September 2024 to “focus on surveilling, and, ultimately, assassinating” Trump.

When Shakeri told his IRGC handler that the Trump plot would “cost a ‘huge’ amount of money,” prosecutors said the Iranian responded: “We already spent a lot of money … [s]o the money’s not an issue.”

US officials say Iran has been pursuing assassination plots as vengeance for the death of Qasem Soleimani, the head of the country’s elite Quds Force who was killed in a drone strike ordered by Trump in 2020.

“Iran tried to kill President Trump,” Hegseth said Wednesday, “and President Trump got the last laugh.”