Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed that the United States' strikes on three Iran nuclear sites wouldn't lead to an "open-ended conflict."

"As the president has directed, made clear, this is most certainly not open-ended. It doesn't mean it limits our ability to respond. We will respond if necessary," Hegseth told on reporters Sunday (June 22) via the New York Post.

Hegseth insisted that President Donald Trump "wants peace" and that the United States has been sending "messages to Iran and has made clear what the regime must do to achieve peace."

"What the President gave us, as I said, was a focused, powerful and clear mission on the destruction of Iranian nuclear capabilities. Those were the targets. That's what was struck. That was overwhelming," he said. "[Trump] wants peace. There needs to be a negotiated settlement here."

"I can only confirm that there are both public and private messages being directly delivered to the Iranians in multiple channels, giving them every opportunity to come to the table," Hegseth added. "They understand precisely what the American position is, precisely what steps they can take to allow for peace and we hope they do so."

Operation Midnight Hammer dropped 14 massive bunker busters in the largest flight of B-2 stealth bombers ever, according to Gen. Dan Caine, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, via the New York Post. Seven other B-2 Spirit bombers were also reported to have flown east while being escorted by U.S. fighter jets and refueled mid-air during what was the longest operational flight of strategic bombers since 2001.

"A US submarine in the Central Command Area of Responsibility launched more than two dozen Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles against key surface infrastructure targets at Isfahan as the Operation Midnight Hammer strike package entered Iranian airspace," Caine said via the New York Post.

"We are currently unaware of any shots fired at the US strike package on the way in," he added. "Iran's fighters did not fly, and it appears that Iran's surface-to-air missile systems did not see us throughout the mission; we retained the element of surprise. In total, US forces employed approximately 75 precision-guided weapons during this operation."

"This included, as the President stated last night, 14 30,000-pound GBU, 57 Massive Ordnance, penetrators, marking the first ever operational use of this weapon."

Mel Taylor