Conflict · Iran War Claims · ArchiveOssoff Grills Hegseth on Iran War Claims; SecDef Refuses to AnswerAired July 22, 2026 at 5:07 PM UTCWritten September 7, 2026 at 9:22 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth returned0:02to Capitol Hill Tuesday for a fiery0:053-hour hearing, his first Senate0:07appearance since May. The confrontation0:09started over a claim he made just 20:11weeks into the Iran war that Tehran's0:13military had been, quote, destroyed and0:15made combat ineffective. Senator Jon0:17Ossoff pressed him on whether that0:19statement was ever accurate. Ossoff0:21pressed again and again. Hegseth refused0:24to answer directly, unwilling to say0:26whether his own sweeping claim had been0:27accurate. The Defense Secretary would0:29not confirm whether his statement had0:31been truthful to the American people.0:33Hegseth testified the war has cost 370:35and 1/2 billion dollars so far.0:37The Pentagon is now requesting 670:40billion more. 17 American service0:42members have been killed and nearly 1000:44wounded. But when senators demanded0:46clarity on the way forward, the0:48secretary offered little. The criticism0:50came from both sides of the aisle.0:51Democrat Gary Peters told Hegseth0:53directly, "You, sir, are the failure.0:56You don't have a strategy. You don't0:58have a long-term plan." Patty Murray1:00warned of, quote, another forever war.1:02Republican John Kennedy demanded1:04straight answers. Susan Collins called1:06the Pentagon's blocking of women and1:07minority officer promotions deeply1:10troubling, and Kirsten Gillibrand1:12questioned whether the US had actually1:13destroyed Iran's nuclear capabilities, a1:16question that also went unanswered. With1:18no clear war objectives and 67 billion1:20more dollars on the table, the questions1:22Hegseth would not answer today are ones1:24this administration may not be able to1:26dodge for much longer.Explore with HeyDexThe shortThe short ↗