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3. Karoline Leavitt to TIB: Operation Epic Fury Expected to Last Four to Six Weeks

The United States is on track to meet its objectives in Operation Epic Fury, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told This Is Beirut and other reporters on Friday, as Washington continues efforts to weaken Iranian military capabilities following recent esclation.

Speaking to reporters, Leavitt emphasized that she would not get ahead of President Donald Trump on any specific timeline but noted that “the achievable objectives of Operation Epic Fury have been expected to last about four to six weeks, and we are well on our way to achieving those objectives: annihilating the Iran regime's navy.” She said that more than 30 Iranian vessels and ships have been sunk, rendering the Iranian navy “combat ineffective.”

Leavitt also highlighted that retaliatory ballistic missile strikes from Iran are down 90% just six days into the operation. “The United States military has done a tremendous job at achieving that objective thus far,” she said. She added that groups aligned with Iran, including Hezbollah and the Houthis, “are hardly putting up a fight over the course of the last six days.”

Beyond military achievements, Leavitt said the operation aims to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to significantly weaken Iranian proxies in the region, which she noted have been responsible for the deaths of Americans. “Ultimately, the president has made it very clear: he wants to take out the threat of Iran to the United States and Operation Epic Fury is well on its way to doing that,” she said.

Leavitt also discussed the future of Iran, echoing Trump’s position that it is in the United States’ best interest for Iran to no longer be led by “a radical terrorist regime that chants death to America and is lying to the United States and the world about their secret ambitions to conduct a nuclear bomb.” She added that the president “wants to take an interest in seeing who the next leader of the Iranian country is going to be.”