Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters that the U.S. military is prepared to resume strikes on Iran if diplomatic efforts fall through. Hegseth, who is also referred to as the secretary of war, made the comments in Singapore on Saturday, one day after President Donald Trump said he would “make a final determination” on a potential deal with Iran during a Situation Room meeting with his advisers. There was no immediate announcement from the president following that meeting. “They can either do this now through a deal, and we think we’re in a good place to make that deal, or they can deal with the War Department, and we are prepared,” Hegseth said. “We’re postured even stronger today than we were on Day 1 to address it that way if we have to, but he’d prefer not to.” Both sides have traded fire this week, testing the fragile ceasefire, but full-scale fighting has not resumed. Trump said on social media Friday that the Strait of Hormuz must open immediately. He said Iran would not be allowed to charge tolls and that the Islamic Republic must complete the “removal and/or detonation of any mines that are left” in the crucial waterway for oil shipments. Stalled oil shipments in the strait have sent gas prices soaring since the war started three months ago. The Associated Press reports that the possible deal would extend the fragile ceasefire for 60 days while further talks continue on the fate of Iran’s nuclear program.”Iran must agree that they will never have a Nuclear Weapon or Bomb,” Trump wrote Friday, adding that Tehran’s highly enriched uranium would be “unearthed by the United States” and destroyed. However, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Friday that its officials were “focused on the end of war and are not discussing the details of the nuclear plan at this point.” “Iran may not want to give up their nuclear ambitions, but we believe at the table they can and will over time, given the right set of incentives,” Hegseth added. Iran’s top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, expressed that there is still a lack of trust since the U.S. and Israel have previously attacked Iran while it was engaged in nuclear negotiations.”We have no trust in guarantees or words—only actions are the measure. No action will be taken before the other side acts,” he wrote on social media.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters that the U.S. military is prepared to resume strikes on Iran if diplomatic efforts fall through.
Hegseth, who is also referred to as the secretary of war, made the comments in Singapore on Saturday, one day after President Donald Trump said he would “make a final determination” on a potential deal with Iran during a Situation Room meeting with his advisers. There was no immediate announcement from the president following that meeting.
“They can either do this now through a deal, and we think we’re in a good place to make that deal, or they can deal with the War Department, and we are prepared,” Hegseth said. “We’re postured even stronger today than we were on Day 1 to address it that way if we have to, but he’d prefer not to.”
Both sides have traded fire this week, testing the fragile ceasefire, but full-scale fighting has not resumed.
Trump said on social media Friday that the Strait of Hormuz must open immediately. He said Iran would not be allowed to charge tolls and that the Islamic Republic must complete the “removal and/or detonation of any mines that are left” in the crucial waterway for oil shipments.
Stalled oil shipments in the strait have sent gas prices soaring since the war started three months ago.
The Associated Press reports that the possible deal would extend the fragile ceasefire for 60 days while further talks continue on the fate of Iran’s nuclear program.
“Iran must agree that they will never have a Nuclear Weapon or Bomb,” Trump wrote Friday, adding that Tehran’s highly enriched uranium would be “unearthed by the United States” and destroyed.
However, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Friday that its officials were “focused on the end of war and are not discussing the details of the nuclear plan at this point.”
“Iran may not want to give up their nuclear ambitions, but we believe at the table they can and will over time, given the right set of incentives,” Hegseth added.
Iran’s top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, expressed that there is still a lack of trust since the U.S. and Israel have previously attacked Iran while it was engaged in nuclear negotiations.
“We have no trust in guarantees or words—only actions are the measure. No action will be taken before the other side acts,” he wrote on social media.
