U.S. forces to have "complete and total dominance" over Ira

WASHINGTON, March 4 (Xinhua) -- White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that U.S. forces will have "complete and total dominance" over Iranian airspace in the next few hours.

"We expect to have complete and total dominance over Iranian airspace in the coming hours," Leavitt said at the White House daily press briefing.

She added that deploying U.S. ground troops to Iran is not currently planned, though U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier he is open to the option in the future.

Earlier in the day, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said at a Pentagon briefing that the U.S.-Israeli military operation against Iran is still in its early stages.

Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said U.S. forces will begin striking progressively deeper into the Iranian territory as operations expand.

Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah have conducted their first coordinated attacks on Israel amid the ongoing escalation, the Israel Defense Forces told CNN on Wednesday.

On Saturday morning, U.S.-Israeli airstrikes against Iran killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with some of the leader's family members, senior military commanders and civilians. Iran responded through waves of missile and drone attacks targeting Israel and U.S. bases across the Middle East.