Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told his Pentagon briefing on 10 November that the US had achieved a "historic military victory" over Iran, according to ABC News.
ABC News also reports him saying the US can "maintain oversight" of Iranian nuclear sites. He did not set out in public how that oversight would work.
The remarks came at the same Tuesday morning news conference where he called the impeachment push against him a "farce". He also said more than 80% of Iran's nuclear industrial base was gone, and he acknowledged the war is "not necessarily popular" when asked about the Republican midterm defeat.
His claims of victory and of oversight of the nuclear sites have not been independently checked.