U.S. Army Chief ​of Staff Randy George was fired on Thursday by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, three U.S. defense officials told Reuters, in ‌the latest purge among the Pentagon’s most senior ranks, Reuters reported.

Even as Hegseth, a former Fox News host, has moved quickly to reshape the department, firing a general during wartime is nearly without precedent.

The Pentagon confirmed that George, who had more than a year left in his term, “will be retiring from his position as the 41st Chief ​of Staff of the Army effective immediately.”

The Pentagon said in a statement it was grateful for George’s decades of service. “We wish ​him well in his retirement,” it said.

Two of the officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Hegseth has ⁠also fired General David Hodne, who leads the Army’s Transformation and Training Command, and Major General William Green, head of the Army’s Chaplain ​Corps.

The department did not give a reason for George’s departure, which comes as the U.S. military builds up its forces in the Middle East ​while carrying out operations against Iran.

The U.S. strikes in the region are largely being carried out by the Navy and Air Force, although U.S. Army soldiers have been dispatched to the Middle East for air defense systems. The Army is the largest branch of the U.S. military, with about 450,000 active-duty soldiers.

Thousands of soldiers from the U.S. Army’s ​elite 82nd Airborne Division have also started arriving in the Middle East, potentially for ground operations in Iran.

There had been no ​public signs of friction between Hegseth and George, even as Hegseth pursued controversial moves such as firing the Army’s top lawyer and arranging a massive military parade ‌to celebrate ⁠the Army’s 250th birthday, which coincided with Trump’s birthday, read the report.

Earlier this week, Hegseth also reversed an Army decision to investigate Army pilots who were flying attack helicopters near singer Kid Rock’s house, in an apparent show of support for the vocal Trump backer.

CBS News, which first reported the dismissal, said it was not related to the Kid Rock incident.

One of the officials said Hegseth’s former military aide and Army vice chief of staff, General Christopher ​LaNeve, will take over George’s role ​in an acting capacity.

Another of ⁠the officials added that senior Army leadership learned about George’s firing at the same time as it was made public.

George, an infantry officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was confirmed to the top Army post in ​2023. Terms in that role usually run for four years.

Prior to holding the top job, George was ​the vice chief of ⁠the Army and, before that, the senior military adviser to then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

He was considered close to Army Secretary Dan Driscoll. The two worked together to take on large defense companies, in the Army’s drive to speed up weapons development and drive down costs.

George’s removal adds to recent upheaval at ⁠all levels ​of leadership at the Pentagon, including the firing last year of the previous chairman of ​the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General C.Q. Brown, as well as the chief of naval operations and Air Force vice chief of staff.

The office for George did ​not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The United States will carry out aggressive strikes on Iran over the next two to three weeks and is nearing completion of its main strategic objectives in the ​war, President Donald Trump said in a prime-time address to the nation on Wednesday.

Addressing a war-weary U.S. public, Trump said his military had delivered “swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield,” during 32 days ‌of military strikes and that Iran was no longer a security threat, Reuters reported.

“I can say tonight that we are on track to complete all of America’s military objectives shortly, very shortly,” Trump said in a nationally televised address.

“We’re going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages where they belong.”

Thousands of people have been killed across the Middle East since February 28, when the U.S. and Israel struck Iran, triggering Iranian attacks on Israel, U.S. bases and ​the Gulf states, while opening a new front in Lebanon.

The conflict, which prompted Iran to shut the Strait of Hormuz — a key waterway carrying about a fifth of global oil supplies — has rattled financial markets ​and weighed on Trump’s sagging approval ratings months ahead of pivotal midterm congressional elections.

Stocks fell and oil prices rose sharply after Trump’s speech, with investors disappointed that a clearer ⁠path to swiftly ending the conflict was not spelled out.

Trump said the United States does not need the Strait of Hormuz and he challenged U.S. allies who rely on oil in the region to work toward reopening it.

“Many ​Americans have been concerned to see the recent rise in gasoline prices here at home,” Trump said. “This short-term increase has been entirely the result of the Iranian regime launching deranged terror attacks against commercial oil tankers of neighboring countries ​that have nothing to do with the conflict.”

The International Monetary Fund, World Bank and International Energy Agency on Wednesday warned the war was having “substantial, global and highly asymmetric” effects and said they would coordinate their response, including through potential financial support to those countries hit hardest.

NUCLEAR THREAT

In an interview with Reuters earlier on Wednesday, Trump said U.S.-Israeli strikes had ensured Iran would not obtain nuclear weapons, adding that U.S. forces could return with “spot hits” if the threat resurfaces.

“They were right at the doorstep (of a nuclear weapon),” Trump said in his TV ​address, without providing evidence.

“In these past four weeks, our armed forces have delivered swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield,” he said. “We are systematically dismantling the regime’s ability to threaten America or project power outside of their borders.”

Prior ​to Trump’s address, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a letter addressed to the American people that his country harbors no enmity towards ordinary Americans.

Yet prospects for a near-term end to the fighting remained elusive. A senior Iranian source told Reuters on Wednesday ‌that Tehran is ⁠demanding a guaranteed ceasefire to halt its attacks and said no talks have taken place through intermediaries on a temporary truce. The New York Times reported separately that U.S. intelligence agencies assess Iran is currently unwilling to engage in substantial negotiations to end the war.

Trump said that discussions were ongoing with Iranian leaders he considered less radical than previous leaders.

“Yet if during this period of time, no deal is made we have our eyes on key targets,” Trump said. “If there’s no deal, we are going to hit each and every one of their electric generating plants, very hard and probably simultaneously.”

TRUMP CONSIDERS QUITTING NATO

Trump said on social media earlier on Wednesday that Iran had asked for a ceasefire but ​that he would not consider it until Tehran ceased ​blocking the Strait of Hormuz, which carries a fifth ⁠of global oil and liquefied natural gas.

Iran denied making any such request.

Two security sources from Pakistan, which is mediating in the conflict, told Reuters that Islamabad had proposed a temporary ceasefire but had not heard back from either side.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance communicated with intermediaries from Pakistan about the Iran conflict as recently as Tuesday, according to a source briefed ​on the matter, making clear that Trump was open to a ceasefire if certain demands were met, including reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the source said.

Trump had ​suggested on Tuesday he could wind ⁠down the war in two to three weeks even without a deal, while scaling up threats to pull the U.S. out of the NATO defence alliance if European states did not help stop Iran from blocking the waterway.

In his remarks to Reuters on Wednesday, Trump said he had planned to express his disgust with NATO for what he considers the alliance’s lack of support for U.S. objectives in Iran.

Trump did not explicitly mention NATO in his address, but appeared to be sending ⁠a message to ​European allies, urging countries in need of oil to buy it from the United States or to “build up some delayed courage” and use ​the Strait of Hormuz.

“Go to the Strait and just take it,” Trump said. “Iran has been essentially decimated. The hard part is done, so it should be easy.”

European states have taken pains to appear unruffled, and France’s junior army minister Alice Rufo said operations by NATO in the Strait of ​Hormuz would be a breach of international law.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Tuesday that his country will ​stay out of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran unless Syria is subject to ‌aggression and has no diplomatic solutions.

“Unless Syria is targeted by any party, Syria will remain outside any conflict,” the Syrian president said at an event hosted ​by think tank Chatham House in London, Reuters reported.

“We do not want Syria ​to be an arena of war. But unfortunately, today, things ⁠are not governed by wise minds. The situation is volatile and ​random,” the president said.

The month-long conflict has spread across the region, killing thousands, ​disrupting energy supplies, and threatening to send the global economy into a tailspin.

“We want Syria to have ideal relationships with the entire region, with Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, ​and world powers like the UK, France, Germany and the U.S. I think that Syria is ​qualified to start a strategic relationship network,” he said, responding to a question on ‌whether ⁠Syria would stay neutral while the conflict goes on.

Syria has been keen to stay on the sidelines of the regional conflict that has pulled in neighbouring countries, including Lebanon, where armed group Hezbollah is locked ​in fighting with Israeli ​ground troops, ⁠and Iraq, where Iran-aligned factions have launched drone and rocket attacks.

Syria sent thousands of troops to its western ​border with Lebanon and its eastern border with Iraq ​earlier this ⁠month. Syria’s defense ministry said the deployment was part of efforts to “protect and control the borders amid the escalating regional conflict”.

“We had enough war. ⁠We paid ​a large bill. We are not ready ​for another war experience,” Syria’s president said.