US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Thursday that Iran’s ability to coordinate under the ceasefire is weakened, but its incentive to maintain the truce remains high.
“Their command and control capabilities are highly degraded, so their ability to organize is the worst it’s ever been,” Hegseth said at a Pentagon briefing.
However, he said Iran was likely to stick to the ceasefire to avoid renewed military action
“Their motivation to want to stay in the ceasefire is very high, because they understand that a violation means a commencement once again of Admiral Cooper’s forces,” he said.
Hegseth added that US operations had previously inflicted significant damage.
“That went very poorly for them,” he said.
On the Houthis, Hegseth said the group has so far stayed out of the conflict.
“Thus far, they have stayed out of it, which we think is a good decision by them,” he said.