type: timeline_event
On March 10, 2026 -- Day 11 of Operation Epic Fury -- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the United States would launch its most intense round of airstrikes against Iran yet, stating: "Today will be, yet again, our most intense day of strikes inside Iran: The most fighters, the most bombers, the most strikes, intelligence more refined and better than ever." Hegseth identified three persistent military objectives: destroying Iran's missile stockpiles and missile-manufacturing infrastructure, completing the destruction of Iran's naval forces, and permanently denying Iran any path to nuclear weapons.
General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed that U.S. forces had by that point struck more than 5,000 targets inside Iran and were now driving strikes "deeper into Iran's military and industrial base," including drone-manufacturing facilities. The campaign represented a significant shift from the early days of the conflict, which had concentrated on IRGC headquarters, missile silos, and naval assets, toward a broader industrial and logistical target set.
Despite Hegseth's aggressive posture, he noted that Iranian retaliatory fire had declined -- "the last 24 hours have seen Iran fire the lowest amount of missiles they have fired yet" -- which the administration framed as evidence that the sustained bombing campaign was degrading Iran's offensive capacity.
At the same time, President Trump told Republican lawmakers in a separate briefing that the war could be over "pretty quickly," calling it a "short-term excursion" and stating there was "practically nothing left" for U.S. forces to bomb. Trump's public comments diverged sharply from Israel's posture: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz stated the operation would "continue without any time limit, as long as required." The divergence between U.S. and Israeli war aims and timelines became a growing source of tension and public confusion about the conflict's endgame.
The March 10 escalation drew immediate condemnation from Senate Democrats, who cited growing civilian casualties and demanded public congressional testimony from Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.