{"id":203990,"date":"2026-03-13T23:39:01","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T23:39:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/pete-hegseth-attacks-media-for-not-being-positive-enough-about-us-attacks-on-iran-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T23:39:01","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T23:39:01","slug":"pete-hegseth-attacks-media-for-not-being-positive-enough-about-us-attacks-on-iran-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/pete-hegseth-attacks-media-for-not-being-positive-enough-about-us-attacks-on-iran-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"Pete Hegseth attacks media for not being positive enough about US attacks on Iran – The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"

US defense head is eager to frame operation as a success \u2013 and slam journalists for not portraying it in a positive light
Has the pro-Maga media turned on the Pentagon over Iran?<\/a>
Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox<\/a>
Pete Hegseth<\/a> on Friday again claimed the US military<\/a> campaign against Iran<\/a> has been an unprecedented success, using a Pentagon press conference to accuse journalists of downplaying Washington\u2019s supposed gains on the battlefield.
Speaking alongside the chair of the joint chiefs of staff, the US defense secretary claimed Iran had been left without a functioning air force, navy or missile defense network after 13 days of strikes, and said the combined US-Israeli air campaign had hit more than 15,000 targets since the war began.
\u201cThe United States is decimating the radical Iranian regime\u2019s military in a way the world has never seen before,\u201d Hegseth told reporters.
He said Iranian ballistic missile production capacity had been \u201cfunctionally defeated\u201d and that their leaders were cowering underground, because \u201cthat\u2019s what rats do\u201d. In fact, some of Iran\u2019s most senior leaders \u2013 including the president, Masoud Pezeshkian; the security chief, Ali Larijani; and the foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi \u2013 were today seen on video marching through Tehran for the annual Quds Day rally.
Hegseth also claimed Iran\u2019s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei \u2013 who was elected by the Assembly of Experts on 8 March following the assassination of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei \u2013 was \u201cwounded and likely disfigured\u201d. The claim has not been independently verified.
Analysts such as the independent Institute for the Study of War have confirmed<\/a> mass damage to Iranian military infrastructure using commercial satellite imagery, including through strikes on missile complexes and air and navy bases. Nevertheless, attacks by Iran continue. Iranian state media<\/a> said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has continued to launch a barrage of missiles and drones on US military installations in Gulf countries and on Israel.
Hegseth also confirmed that a US military investigation is indeed under way into an airstrike on a girls\u2019 school in Iran that killed at least 175 people. The defense secretary said the investigating officer was a general, drawn from outside US Central Command, but did not address the substance of the allegations directly. Preliminary findings from the investigation have reportedly found<\/a> that the US bombed the school.
The chair of the joint chiefs of staff, Gen Dan Caine, revealed at the press conference that the US fired \u201cthe first precision strike missiles ever used in combat, reaching deep into enemy territory\u201d. The anti-ship weapons are designed to be more precise and operate at a longer range than previous missile versions.
Despite assertions of near-total battlefield dominance, the Pentagon has acknowledged that the strait of Hormuz \u2013 a key shipping route for Gulf oil, not least Iran\u2019s own \u2013 remains partly closed to commercial shipping, and that it has yet to begin naval escort operations.
Addressing the issue of the strait, Hegseth disparaged reporting that the US had not been prepared for Iran\u2019s effective closure of shipping route. \u201cThe only thing prohibiting transit in [Hormuz] right now is Iran shooting at shipping,\u201d Hegseth said. \u201cIt is open for transit should Iran not do that.\u201d
Throughout, Hegseth repeatedly criticized news coverage of the war, at one point proposing alternative headlines for TV coverage.
\u201cWhat should the banner [on TV] read?\u201d he said. \u201cHow about \u2018Iran increasingly desperate\u2019?\u201d
One journalist said<\/a> they had been denied entry to the press briefing, along with all print photographers. That is reportedly<\/a> because some photos published of Hegseth have been deemed \u201cunflattering\u201d.
Singling out CNN by name, Hegseth said: \u201cThe sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better.\u201d Ellison, a Trump ally, is the frontrunner to acquire<\/a> CNN\u2019s parent company, Warner Bros Discovery, and has reportedly told Trump administration officials he would make sweeping changes to the network should the deal close<\/a>.
As has been his habit at these briefings, Hegseth concluded his opening remarks with an appeal to divine providence, asking Americans to remain \u201con bended knee\u201d in prayer for US troops and saying he served \u201cGod, the troops, the country, the constitution and the president of the United States \u2013 and answer only to those\u201d.<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

US defense head is eager to frame operation as a success \u2013 and slam journalists for not portraying it in a positive lightHas the pro-Maga media turned on the Pentagon over Iran?Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxPete Hegseth on Friday again claimed the US military campaign […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":203991,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-203990","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-us","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203990\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}