U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said Washington can carry out its assault on Iran for as long as it wants to, as he touted the success of joint American and Israeli attacks, including the sinking of an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean.
In a press conference, Hegseth said the fight had only just begun, adding that more warplanes will soon be arriving in the Middle East and will be available to perform missions to deliver "death and destruction all day long."
"We are only four days into this. Metrics are shifting, dust is settling, and more forces are arriving. It’s very early, and as President Trump has said we will take all the time we need to make sure that we succeed," U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a press conference.
Prior to Hegseth’s comments, the conflict appeared to widen further, as a ballistic missile fired from Iran towards Turkish airspace was shot down by NATO defense systems in the eastern Mediterranean.
It was the first time that the fighting had included Turkey, a NATO member which neighbors Iran to the northwest. There were no casualties or injuries, Reuters reported.
The launch comes as U.S. is maintaining its assault of Iran, and Israel is bombarding sites linked with Tehran’s missile and air-defense systems. Tehran has targeted locations in Israel as well as U.S. bases and embassies across the Middle East in retaliation.
Iran has also promised to select a new supreme leader to succeed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an air barrage over the weekend. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has warned that any new leader appointed by Iran could be "an unequivocal target for elimination." #ROBO
This kept risk aversion broadly in play, with crypto prices seeing limited strength. World no.2 crypto Ether jumped over 7% to $2,084.29, while XRP rose 5% to $1.41. Solana rallied nearly 9%, while BNB and Cardano climbed over 4% each. Among meme tokens, Dogecoin rose 7.3%, while $TRUMP remained mute #ROBO
Bitcoin surged on Wednesday to a one-month high, moving higher alongside other safe-haven assets as conflict continues to rage in the Middle East. The cryptocurrency also took support from U.S. President Donald Trump’s calls for better regulatory support for the cryptocurrency industry.
Bitcoin jumped 6% to $71,867 by 10:02 ET (15:02 GMT) after trading in a tight range in recent weeks.
The move also comes as demand for U.S.-listed spot bitcoin ETFs has picked up after several weeks of choppy trading that weighed on crypto market momentum.
Spot bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. saw roughly $225 million in net inflows on March 3, following about $458 million the previous day, with no funds recording net outflows on March 2, according to SoSoValue data.#robo $ROBO