Shafaq News- Washington

American aircraft have established control over Iranian airspace, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced on Wednesday, adding that Tehran’s leaders are merely watching US and Israeli planes overhead.

Speaking during the briefing of US military operations in the Middle East, Hegseth said B-2 and B-1 bombers are dominating the skies over Iran and are operating with full authorization from President Donald Trump and the War Department.

He described the results as positive, asserting that “only America is capable of leading such a war.” He affirmed that Trump had stated the U.S. would “take all the time necessary to achieve the objective.”

Hegseth further claimed that American forces have begun dismantling and destroying “all the capabilities of Iranian radicals” within just four days, emphasizing that the intensity of strikes against Iran is “seven times greater” than the 2003 strikes on Iraq.

In a separate development, Hegseth said a US submarine sank an Iranian warship off the southern coast of Sri Lanka on Wednesday.

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath told parliament earlier that 180 people were on board the Iranian vessel, which he identified as the IRIS Dena. A ship named IRINS Dena was listed as participating in a naval drill in the Bay of Bengal from Feb. 18 to 25, according to the exercise’s website.