{"id":121579,"date":"2026-03-01T07:09:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T02:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=121579"},"modified":"2026-03-01T07:09:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T02:09:10","slug":"us-defense-chief-vows-to-destroy-irans-navy-amid-rising-tensions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/121579\/","title":{"rendered":"US Defense Chief Vows to \u201cDestroy\u201d Iran\u2019s Navy Amid Rising Tensions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Washington (National Times) US defense official Pete Hegseth has declared that the Iranian navy \u201cwill be destroyed,\u201d warning that US military forces are \u201cfully unleashed\u201d to carry out the objectives outlined by former President Donald Trump.<br>In a post on X, Hegseth said Washington \u201cwill not tolerate powerful missiles\u201d targeting Americans following Iran\u2019s counter-strike after joint US-Israeli attacks.<br>He added that Iran\u2019s missiles and missile production facilities will be targeted, stating: \u201cThose missiles will be destroyed, along with Iran\u2019s missile production. The Iranian navy will be destroyed.\u201d<div class=\"flex flex-col text-sm\"><article class=\"text-token-text-primary w-full focus:outline-none [--shadow-height:45px] has-data-writing-block:pointer-events-none has-data-writing-block:-mt-(--shadow-height) has-data-writing-block:pt-(--shadow-height) [&amp;:has([data-writing-block])&gt;*]:pointer-events-auto scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]\" tabindex=\"-1\" dir=\"auto\" data-turn-id=\"request-WEB:5a23ba0f-5f29-4355-ac5a-98def1be6a92-20\" data-testid=\"conversation-turn-42\" data-scroll-anchor=\"true\" data-turn=\"assistant\"><div class=\"text-base my-auto mx-auto pb-10 [--thread-content-margin:--spacing(4)] @w-sm\/main:[--thread-content-margin:--spacing(6)] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-margin:--spacing(16)] px-(--thread-content-margin)\"><div tabindex=\"-1\" class=\"[--thread-content-max-width:40rem] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-max-width:48rem] mx-auto max-w-(--thread-content-max-width) flex-1 group\/turn-messages focus-visible:outline-hidden relative flex w-full min-w-0 flex-col agent-turn\"><div class=\"z-0 flex min-h-[46px] justify-start\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/article><\/div><div aria-hidden=\"true\" data-edge=\"true\" class=\"pointer-events-none h-px w-px absolute bottom-0\"><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington (National Times) US defense official Pete Hegseth has declared that the Iranian navy \u201cwill be destroyed,\u201d warning that US military forces are \u201cfully unleashed\u201d to carry out the objectives outlined by former President Donald Trump.In a post on X, Hegseth said Washington \u201cwill not tolerate powerful missiles\u201d targeting Americans following Iran\u2019s counter-strike after joint [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":121580,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-121579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>US Defense Chief Vows to \u201cDestroy\u201d Iran\u2019s Navy Amid Rising Tensions - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/121579\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US Defense Chief Vows to \u201cDestroy\u201d Iran\u2019s Navy Amid Rising Tensions - Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Washington (National Times) US defense official Pete Hegseth has declared that the Iranian navy \u201cwill be destroyed,\u201d warning that US military forces are \u201cfully unleashed\u201d to carry out the objectives outlined by former President Donald Trump.In a post on X, Hegseth said Washington \u201cwill not tolerate powerful missiles\u201d targeting Americans following Iran\u2019s counter-strike after joint [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/121579\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-01T02:09:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-01T02:09:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Untitled-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"670\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"370\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/121579\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/121579\/\",\"name\":\"US Defense Chief Vows to \u201cDestroy\u201d Iran\u2019s Navy Amid Rising Tensions - Nation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/121579\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/121579\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Untitled-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-01T02:09:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-01T02:09:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/121579\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/121579\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/121579\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Untitled-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Untitled-1.jpg\",\"width\":670,\"height\":370},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/121579\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"US Defense Chief Vows to \u201cDestroy\u201d Iran\u2019s Navy Amid Rising Tensions\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/\",\"name\":\"Nation\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16\",\"name\":\"humza Jahangir\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"humza Jahangir\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/author\/humza\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"US Defense Chief Vows to \u201cDestroy\u201d Iran\u2019s Navy Amid Rising Tensions - Nation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/121579\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"US Defense Chief Vows to \u201cDestroy\u201d Iran\u2019s Navy Amid Rising Tensions - Nation","og_description":"Washington (National Times) US defense official Pete Hegseth has declared that the Iranian navy \u201cwill be destroyed,\u201d warning that US military forces are \u201cfully unleashed\u201d to carry out the objectives outlined by former President Donald Trump.In a post on X, Hegseth said Washington \u201cwill not tolerate powerful missiles\u201d targeting Americans following Iran\u2019s counter-strike after joint [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/121579\/","og_site_name":"Nation","article_published_time":"2026-03-01T02:09:09+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-01T02:09:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":670,"height":370,"url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Untitled-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"humza Jahangir","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"humza Jahangir","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/121579\/","url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/121579\/","name":"US Defense Chief Vows to \u201cDestroy\u201d Iran\u2019s Navy Amid Rising Tensions - Nation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/121579\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/121579\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Untitled-1.jpg","datePublished":"2026-03-01T02:09:09+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-01T02:09:10+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/121579\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/121579\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/121579\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Untitled-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Untitled-1.jpg","width":670,"height":370},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/121579\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"US Defense Chief Vows to \u201cDestroy\u201d Iran\u2019s Navy Amid Rising Tensions"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/","name":"Nation","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16","name":"humza Jahangir","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"humza Jahangir"},"url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/author\/humza\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121579"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":121581,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121579\/revisions\/121581"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}