US attack on Iran ’was not and has not been about regime change’

US strikes on Iran were not about the regime change, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Sunday.

"This mission was not and has not been about regime change," Hegseth said at a news conference along with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Dan Caine.

His remarks came after US President Donald Trump announced that American forces carried out “very successful” strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites in Fordo, Natanz, and Esfahan, amid growing fears of a broader conflict.

Hegseth said Trump authorized a "precision operation to neutralize the threats to our national interests posed by the Iranian nuclear program and the collective self-defense of our troops and our ally Israel."

He added that the plan to strike Iran "took months and weeks of positioning and preparation" to be ready when Trump called.

Stressing that US strikes on Iran were "incredible and overwhelming success," Hegseth said: "We devastated the Iranian nuclear program."