US aims to gain control of Iranian airspace in less than a week

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has outlined plans to accelerate the operation against Iran and has said he expects American and Israeli forces to gain full control of the country's airspace in less than a week.

As reported by CNN, speaking at a press conference on 4 March, Hegseth said that four days into the US operation against Iran it remains at an initial stage and described plans to intensify military actions.

"As President Trump said, more and larger waves are coming. We are just getting started. We are accelerating, not decelerating," he said.

Hegseth said the next phase of military operations is aimed at ensuring that US and Israeli air forces take "complete control of Iranian skies", which is expected to be achieved "under a week".

The secretary added that the air forces will be "finding, fixing and finishing the missiles and defence industrial base of the Iranian military", as well as Iranian military leaders.

"This was never meant to be a fair fight, and it is not a fair fight. We are punching them while they're down, which is exactly how it should be."

On 3 March, US military officials reported that more than 1,700 targets in Iran had been struck since the operation began on 28 February.

On the same day, US President Donald Trump said that Iran wants negotiations but that it is already "too late" for them.

On 2 March, Trump told the New York Post that he would not rule out deploying US troops in Iran and suggested it could become necessary.