Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said Thursday that President Trump has handed the people of Iran a chance for freedom, and that there will “come a moment” that Trump or the people will decide to rise up against the government. 

“No one’s done more than President Trump to reopen the opportunity for those who want a free Iran to do so,” Hegseth said from U.S. Central Command (Centcom) headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, standing alongside Adm. Brad Cooper, the Centcom commander.

“Ultimately, it’s common sense, as he said up front, don’t go out and protest while bombs are dropping inside Tehran and elsewhere. There will come a moment where he determines, or they determine that it’s time to seize that advantage.”

He added: “There’s a lot of things we’re doing, and the Israeli military is doing, targeting those individuals who are targeting those who protest. The more you do that, and you erode their will, and you erode their capabilities, the more you create an opportunity for people to boldly stand up.”

Adm. Cooper urged the Iranian people to “stay in your homes. Keep things calm. Stay out of the way.”

In January, during the uprising and demonstrations against the government of Iran by its citizens, more than 30,000 were estimated to have been gunned down by the regime, according to reports.

“There’s a lot of U.S. and Israeli capacity coming over, we’re hitting a lot of targets, the best thing for them to do for right now is just to lay low,” Cooper added.

“If you think you’ve seen something, just wait,” Hegseth said. “The amount of combat power that’s still flowing, that’s still coming, that we’ll be able to project over Iran is at multiples of what it currently is right now when you add up our capabilities and those of the Israeli Defense Forces.”