US defense chief vows to ‘finish this fight’ with Iran

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed Friday to “finish this fight” with Iran as he addressed a Pentagon ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

Hegseth spoke alongside President Donald Trump and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at the ceremony commemorating the victims of the attacks and honoring US military personnel and first responders.

“There are still enemies who hate us,” Hegseth said, warning that adversaries continue to seek to curb US power and kill American citizens, adding that Washington remains “vigilant” in the face of such threats.

Turning to Iran, Hegseth said the US had “laid waste” to what he described as the “world’s most prolific state sponsor of terrorism” over the past six months.

He accused Iran’s leadership of wishing the US “death for nearly half a century” and of cheering the Sept. 11 attacks and sponsoring attacks against Americans for decades.

“But they did not factor in this president,” Hegseth said, referring to Trump.

He said US forces had killed Iranian leaders, destroyed the country’s air force and navy and eliminated its air defenses.

“We’re still sending terrorists where they belong to hell, and tankers to the bottom of the ocean where they belong,” Hegseth said.

He added that Washington was working to ensure Iran would “never have a nuclear weapon,” while economic pressure on Tehran was tightening.

“We control the Strait,” Hegseth said, referring to the Strait of Hormuz. “We will finish this fight.”

Trump, for his part, honored US troops who served in the “war on terror,” as well as first responders and law enforcement officers.

“We salute the service members working right now to ensure the world's number one sponsor of terror, the Islamic Republic of Iran, will never ever have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said.

“September 11th reminded us of the terrible power of hate,” Trump said, adding that the 25 years since the attacks had demonstrated the “even greater power of the American spirit to endure and prevail and to win.”