The U.S. military has begun flying B-52 bombers over Iranian territory for the first time since the war began, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Tuesday, suggesting that Iran’s air defenses have been significantly degraded.

But despite a monthlong U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign, Iran still retained the ability to retaliate, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters.

“They will shoot some missiles; we will shoot them down,” Hegseth said at the Pentagon alongside Gen. Dan Caine, the Joint Chiefs chair. It was their first public briefing on the war in nearly two weeks; they last took questions from reporters on March 11.

Caine said U.S. warplanes were focused on destroying supply chains that fed Iran’s missile, drone and ship-building facilities, choking off the country’s ability to replace munitions destroyed in thousands of U.S. bombing runs.

B-52 bombers — unlike the agile or radar-evading aircraft in the U.S. arsenal — are considered highly vulnerable to antiaircraft systems. The decision to fly the planes directly over Iran signifies the U.S. military’s confidence that it has largely destroyed Iran’s capability to take down the lumbering bombers.

Hegseth also revealed he had made an unannounced trip to the Middle East over the weekend to visit troops at bases around the region. He again said the United States was “closer than ever before to winning.” President Donald Trump has offered conflicting messages about his objectives in the war and has struggled to contain its economic fallout.

Trump has tried to pressure Iran to end its de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz — normally a conduit for one-fifth of the world’s oil supplies — by alternating threats of destruction with unverified claims of diplomatic progress. Iran has denied holding substantive talks with the United States and has rejected the Trump administration’s conditions to end the war as unreasonable.

Trump has also complained about a lack of support from U.S. allies in the war, even as he has insisted that he does not need it. On Tuesday, he criticized countries that “refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran,” saying on social media, “You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself.”

Here’s What Else We’re Covering:

— American kidnapped: An American woman and journalist was kidnapped in Iraq’s capital on Tuesday evening and security forces were trying to find her, Iraq’s Interior Ministry said. Iraqi and U.S. officials did not immediately identify the woman. The Iraqi ministry said security forces had pursued the kidnappers, arrested one suspect and seized a vehicle used in the abduction. The suspect is a member of the Iran-allied paramilitary group Kataib Hezbollah, two senior Iraqi security officials said.

— Gas prices: Gasoline in the United States crossed an average of $4 a gallon Tuesday, a threshold it hadn’t reached since August 2022. The average cost of gas has jumped 35% since the war began Feb. 28, according to data from the AAA motor club, becoming a political burden for Trump. Oil prices also rose again.

— Persian Gulf: Gulf countries reported more missile and drone attacks Tuesday. A Kuwaiti oil tanker erupted in flames at a Dubai, United Arab Emirates, port in a drone attack that its owner, the Kuwait Petroleum Corp., attributed to Iran. Authorities in Dubai and Saudi Arabia reported that debris from interceptions had injured several people. In the UAE, remote learning will continue at all schools until mid-April, the Education Ministry said.

— Lebanon: Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, on Tuesday outlined more explicitly plans for the mass displacement of hundreds of thousands of Lebanese people and the destruction of Lebanese villages along Israel’s northern border. Israeli forces have taken control of more territory in southern Lebanon as they have battled Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militant group. He said the Israeli military would maintain control over all of southern Lebanon up to the Litani River, which is about 20 miles from the Israeli border at its farthest point.

— Casualties: The Human Rights Activists News Agency said at least 1,574 civilians had been killed, including 236 children, in Iran since the war began. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said more than 1,260 Lebanese had been killed as of Tuesday, with more than 3,750 others wounded, since the latest fighting between Israel and Hezbollah began. In Iran’s attacks across the Middle East, at least 50 people have been killed in Gulf nations. In Israel, at least 17 had been killed as of Friday. The American death toll stands at 13 service members, with hundreds of others wounded.

— Regional economy: One month of the war could plunge 4 million more people across the Arab world into poverty and shave off up to 6% of the region’s economic output during that time, according to projections by the United Nations Development Program.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By John Ismay, Greg Jaffe, Helene Cooper and Aurelien Breeden/Eric Lee
c. 2026 The New York Times Company