U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth informed Pentagon reporters on Wednesday that American operations against Iran are “accelerating,” and that U.S. forces anticipate soon dominating the country’s airspace.

Four days into the joint U.S. and Israeli conflict with Iran, American forces are capitalizing on their military edge. “This was never meant to be a fair fight,” stated Hegseth. “We are punching them while they are down, which is exactly the way it should be.”

In a move to cripple Iranian military capabilities, a U.S. attack submarine torpedoed and sank an Iranian naval vessel off the Sri Lankan coast, according to Hegseth. This marks the first sinking of a ship by an American torpedo since World War II.

“An American submarine sank ​an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters,” he declared. “Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo. Quiet death.”

Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry has ​reported a minimum of 80 fatalities from the strike. Efforts to find survivors through search-and-rescue missions are currently ongoing.

Hegseth further asserted that U.S. forces tracked down and eliminated an individual inside Iran who participated in a plot to assassinate former President Donald Trump. “Iran tried to kill President Trump and Trump got the last laugh,” he said.

The American campaign against Iran is conducted in concert with Israeli military actions. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on Tuesday that the U.S. initiated its offensive on Saturday morning after Israel located Iran’s Supreme Leader and planned to target him; Trump opted not to delay U.S. involvement until after an Iranian retaliation. American strikes aim to demolish Iran’s capacity to fire ballistic missiles at U.S. bases and regional allies, while also hindering its military reconstruction.

To date, Iranian counterstrikes have killed six U.S. service members stationed in the region. Trump has described these lost personnel as “true American patriots.”

General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, reported that U.S. attacks have already degraded Iran’s capability to launch ballistic missiles at American bases in the area. Caine told journalists that Iran’s regional ballistic missile launches have decreased by 86% since the conflict’s first day, and its deployment of kamikaze drones has fallen by 73%.

TIME has not been able to confirm these statistics independently.

Iran’s missile barrages have compelled the U.S. to deploy costly defensive systems—including Patriot missile batteries and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) units—to safeguard American bases and allies in the Middle East. This has sparked congressional worries about further draining U.S. stockpiles of such anti-missile defenses, which were already reduced by arms deliveries to Ukraine for its war against Russia.

However, Hegseth dismissed these growing concerns, explaining that U.S. and Israeli targeting of Iran’s missile launchers has lessened the quantity of Iranian missiles requiring interception.

“Our stockpile of those, as well as Patriots, remain extremely strong,” Hegseth contended. “Our air defenses and that of our allies have plenty of runway.”

Hegseth and Caine fielded questions in the Pentagon briefing room beside a printed map displaying U.S. and Israeli operations in Iran and the locations of Iranian retaliatory strikes.

Hegseth selected which journalists could ask questions. Since his appointment, he has predominantly called on reporters from organizations aligned with Trump. In October, Pentagon correspondents from major news organizations lost their daily access privileges for refusing to accept newsgathering restrictions imposed by Hegseth.