The United States has sent mixed messages about how long its war with Iran could last, even as the conflict spread across the Middle East with fresh airstrikes, missile launches and drone attacks.
While the US defence secretary Pete Hegseth rejected the idea of an “endless” war, President Donald Trump insisted there was no fixed timeline.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the campaign as decisive but warned it could “take some time.” US Secretary of state Marco Rubio, meanwhile, has framed the conflict as a pre-emptive intervention.
The uncertainty over duration comes as rockets and missiles continue to fly across the region.
Israeli and US forces have intensified strikes inside Iran, while Tehran and its allies have retaliated against Israel and targeted US-linked sites in Gulf countries.
Trump has made clear that the conflict will not be bound by a strict deadline.
“Whatever the time is, it’s okay — whatever it takes,” he said at the White House. “Right from the beginning, we projected four to five weeks. But we have capability to go far longer than that,” the US President said.
He also said the campaign was proceeding “substantially” ahead of schedule but signalled readiness for a prolonged conflict if necessary.
While ruling out nothing, including American boots on the ground, Trump stressed that the United States is equipped for an extended operation.
“I don’t have the yips with respect to boots on the ground,” he had told New York Post.
At the same time, Hegseth attempted to calm fears of another drawn-out war. “This is not Iraq. This is not endless,” he said, even as he warned that more American casualties are likely in the coming weeks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has echoed the message that the campaign will not become a forever war — but stopped short of offering a timeline.
In an interview with Fox News, Netanyahu said the conflict would not be “an endless war” and described it as a “quick and decisive action.”
“It may take some time, but it’s not going to take years,” he added, signalling that Israel expects a finite but possibly extended campaign.
In his first detailed remarks since launching the operation, Trump outlined four core objectives behind striking Iran:
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Destroy Iran’s missile capabilities
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Annihilate Iran’s naval capacity
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Ensure Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon
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Prevent the Iranian regime from arming, funding and directing militant groups beyond its borders
Secretary of state Marco Rubio presented a different framing of how the conflict began.
According to Rubio, the US intervened after learning that Israel was preparing to strike Iran and after assessing that Tehran was readying attacks on American forces in the region.
Rubio said Trump decided to intervene “pre-emptively” alongside Israel to blunt that threat. He also noted that the US military build-up in the region had reached levels not seen since the 2003 Iraq invasion highlighting the scale of preparation behind the operation.
As war spread to different parts of the region, Washington has issued a stark advisory to its citizens.
The US state department urged Americans to “depart now” from much of the Middle East using commercial transport due to “serious safety risks.”
The advisory covers 14 countries: Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel and the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
According to the Iranian Red Crescent Society, at least 555 people have been killed in Iran so far in the US-Israeli campaign, with more than 130 cities reportedly struck. In Israel, authorities report 11 deaths, while 31 people have been killed in Lebanon.
