Operation Epic Fury: Decisive American Power to Crush Iran’s Terror Regime

Under President Donald J. Trump’s unwavering leadership, the U.S. Armed Forces are executing Operation Epic Fury with overwhelming power, lethal precision, and unbreakable resolve. From the opening hours of this historic campaign, the objectives were clear: obliterate Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal and production capacity, annihilate its navy, sever its support for terrorist proxies, and ensure the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism will never acquire a nuclear weapon.

These objectives have remained unchanged, unambiguous, and consistent since the operation began:

• President Trump (March 2): “Our objectives are clear. First, we’re destroying Iran’s missile capabilities… and their capacity to produce brand new ones — pretty good ones they make. Second, we’re annihilating their navy… Third, we’re ensuring that the world’s number one sponsor of terror can never obtain a nuclear weapon… And finally, we’re ensuring that the Iranian regime cannot continue to arm, fund, and direct terrorist armies outside of their borders.”
• Vice President JD Vance (March 2): “Whatever happens with the regime in one form or another, it’s incidental to the President’s primary objective here — which is to make sure the Iranian terrorist regime does not build a nuclear bomb.”
• Secretary of State Marco Rubio (March 2): “The United States is conducting an operation to eliminate the threat of Iran’s short-range ballistic missiles and the threat posed by their navy… That is the clear objective of this mission.”
• U.S. Central Command Commander Admiral Brad Cooper (March 3): “Our military in the Middle East is undertaking an unprecedented operation to eliminate Iran’s ability to threaten Americans, as they’ve been doing for nearly half a century.”
• Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby (March 3): “I think I can lay out once again the objectives of the military campaign… which are focused on addressing the ability of the Islamic Republic to project military power… And that’s primarily the missile forces of the Islamic Republic, which had obviously been growing substantially and posed a very serious threat… as well as the ability to produce that, and then the Iranian navy.”
• Secretary Rubio (March 3): “Our objectives remain, as they’ve been identified from the beginning and the President laid out clearly yesterday. Iran can never have a nuclear weapon and we will not allow Iran to hide behind the immunity of a massive short-term ballistic missile inventory, or the ability to make them or launch them… As well as the destruction of their navy.”
• Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (March 4): “The mission is laser-focused: obliterate Iran’s missiles and drones and facilities that produce them, annihilate its navy and critical security infrastructure, and sever their pathway to nuclear weapons. Iran will never possess a nuclear bomb.”
• Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine (March 4): “The Operation was again launched with clear military objectives designed to dismantle Iran’s ability to project power outside of its borders, both today and in the future. First, we are targeting and eliminating Iran’s ballistic missile systems to prevent them from threatening the U.S. forces, partners, and interests in the region. Second, we are destroying the Iranian navy, degrading its capacity capability and ability to conduct operations… Third, we’re ensuring Iran cannot rapidly rebuild or reconstitute its combat capability.”
• Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt (March 4): “At the beginning of Operation Epic Fury, launched last weekend, President Trump laid out clear objectives to the American people on what the U.S. military seeks to accomplish through these major combat operations. Number one, destroy the regime’s deadly ballistic missiles and completely raze their missile industry to the ground. Number two, annihilate the Iranian regime’s navy… Number three, Operation Epic Fury will ensure the regime’s terrorist proxies can no longer destabilize the region or the free world and attack our armed forces… Number four, this mission will guarantee Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon.”
• Admiral Cooper (March 5): “We will systemically dismantle Iran’s missile production capability for the future, and that’s absolutely in progress…”
• Leavitt (March 6): “We are well on our way to achieving those objectives — annihilating Iran’s navy… taking out the ballistic missile threat that Iran posed to the United States and our troops and bases in the region… ensuring Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon, as well, and significantly weakening their proxies in the region.”
• Secretary Rubio (March 9): “It is important to continue to remind the American people of why it is that the greatest military in the history of the world is engaged in this operation. It is to destroy the ability of this regime to launch missiles both by destroying their missiles and their launchers, destroy the factories that make these missiles, and destroy their navy.”
• Secretary Hegseth (March 10): “[Our objectives] are straightforward and we are executing them with ruthless precision. One, destroy their missile stockpiles, their missile launchers, and their defense industrial base — missiles and their ability to make them. Two, destroy their navy. And three, permanently deny Iran nuclear weapons forever.”
• General Caine (March 10): “The joint force remains focused on three military objectives…”
• Leavitt (March 10): “Moving forward, the stated objectives for Operation Epic Fury remain the same: destroy the terrorist regime’s ballistic missiles, raze their Iranian missile industry to the ground, ensure their terrorist proxies can no longer destabilize the region, and ensure that Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon.”