US defence chief Pete Hegseth boasted that Donald Trump had the ‘last laugh’ as he told a Pentagon press briefing that a man who tried to assassinate the US president was killed in Iran
The US Secretary of Defence has said an Iranian agent who tried to kill Donald Trump has been “hunted down and killed”.
At a Pentagon press conference this afternoon, Pete Hegseth accused Iran’s rulers of attempting to kill the US president – but claimed Trump had the “last laugh” after he was killed during the latest attack on the country.
He said: “The leader of the unit who attempted to assassinate President Trump has been hunted down and killed. Iran tried to kill President Trump. And President Trump got the last laugh.” Hegseth said the operation to kill the commander took place yesterday, but he did not name the man who was killed.
READ MORE: Iran’s most beautiful woman breaks silence on WW3 as Trump strikes continueREAD MORE: Petrol prices in the UK hit 169.9p with 90-car queues over Iran war – everything to know
In 2024, the US Justice Department charged an Iranian man in connection with an alleged plot ordered by the IRGC to assassinate Trump, who was running for president at the time.
During the same Pentagon briefing, Hegseth also confirmed a torpedo from a US submarine sank an Iranian warship. Authorities in Sri Lanka said 80 people were killed and another 32 people rescued from an Iranian Navy ship that was reported in distress off the coast.
The US military said previously it had already destroyed 17 Iranian vessels, and that its goal was sinking “the entire navy”. Hegseth said last night’s strike on the warship is the first such attack on an enemy since World War II, adding: “The Iranian navy rests at the bottom of the Persian Gulf.”
On Sunday, six American soldiers were killed at an operations centre targeted by an Iranian drone strike in the heart of a civilian port in Kuwait – and the US defence chief admitted that further losses on the American side are possible.
“We have pushed every counter-UAS [Unmanned Aircraft System] system possible forward, sparing no expense or capability”, he said. “Like I said, this does not mean we stop everything.”
Back home, Keir Starmer told the Commons during Prime Minister’s questions that letting the US use UK bases and having British jets shooting down drones in the Middle East “is the special relationship in action” – but cautioned “hanging on” to Donald Trump’s every word is not.
The Prime Minister said: “American planes are operating out of British bases. That is the special relationship in action. British jets are shooting down drones and missiles to protect American lives in the Middle East on our joint bases. That is the special relationship in action.
“Sharing intelligence every day to keep our people safe. That is the special relationship in action. Hanging on to President Trump’s latest words is not the special relationship in action.”
It comes after Trump made another swipe at the Prime Minister last night for refusing to join the US-Israeli offensive. Keir Starmer has said the UK would not partake in strikes without a clear “legal basis.”
