Hegseth says CENTCOM will hit Iran hard tonight

Guardian live coverage reported Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth saying CENTCOM would be busy and would hit Iran hard tonight, after earlier White House strike threats and Tehran's infrastructure-warning response. No public target list or completed follow-on strike order was found during this audit.

Why this matters. This pushes the U.S. posture from same-day political threat toward an operational expectation, even as Qatar's Tehran channel remains open. The watchpoint is whether CENTCOM confirms fresh strikes, narrows them to military targets, or leaves the statement as coercive signaling.