US ready to resume military action if Iran peace negotiations fail, says Pete Hegseth

US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday that Washington is prepared to return to military action if negotiations with Iran fail to ensure that the Islamic Republic never acquires a nuclear weapon.

Speaking at a White House Cabinet meeting, Hegseth said President Donald Trump had created the conditions to protect Americans and the wider world from what he called a generational threat from Iran.

“There’s only one man over the course of both presidencies who has stood up and said they will never get a nuclear weapon,” Hegseth said, referring to Trump.

‘US avoided old approach of Iraq and Afghanistan wars’

Hegseth cited the killing of Qasem Soleimani, withdrawal from the Obama-era nuclear deal, the 12-day war and subsequent US military operations against Iran as part of a broader pressure campaign aimed at stopping Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

He said the US had avoided the “old approach” of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

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“Instead, you said, we’re going to do this smart. We’re going to do it overwhelming. We’re going to use maximum lethality. And we’re going to bring them to their knees,” Hegseth said, referring to Trump.

He said Iran’s navy was “at the bottom of the Persian Gulf” and that its air force, air defences and defence industrial base had been heavily damaged.

“They may have missiles, but they can’t build more right now. And they can’t build more drones right now. And they can’t build more ships,” he said.

Hegseth said it was those losses that made Tehran come to talks with US envoys, including Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and Vice President JD Vance.

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‘US imposed a world-class blockade, their economy is hurting big time’

Hegseth further said that the US had imposed a “world-class blockade” on Iranian ports, preventing goods from entering or leaving and badly hurting Iran’s economy.

“We know from the intel that their economy is hurting big time because that is their lifeblood,” he said.

The US defence secretary added that Washington had expanded pressure on Iran’s shadow tanker fleet.

“No Iranian tanker around the globe is safe,” he said, pointing to seizures that he said had further choked off Tehran’s economic lifeline.

Hegseth added that the goal remained to ensure Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon, either through negotiations or, if necessary, by returning to military action.

Also Read: Undeclared chemical weapons from former president Assad-era found in Syria

‘Iran negotiating on fumes, will blow up Oman if…’

Speaking in the cabinet meeting earlier, Trump said that Iran is “negotiating on fumes” and needs to make a deal.

Referring to the Strait of Hormuz, Trump said, “Nobody's going to control it. We're going to watch over it. We'll watch over it. But nobody's going to control it. That's part of the negotiation that we have. They would like to control it. Nobody's going to control it. It's international waters. And Oman will behave just like everybody else, or we'll have to blow them up. They understand that. They'll be fine.”

‘Oil will be lower than pre-conflict levels when this ends,’ says Bessent

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that oil prices will be lower than before the Iran war when the conflict ends.

“Oil will be lower than pre-conflict levels when this ends,” he said.

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‘Iran is never going to have a nuclear weapon’: Rubio

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said President Donald Trump prefers a negotiated diplomatic path with Iran and that talks have made some progress, but warned that Washington has other options if diplomacy fails.

“The bottom line is Iran is never going to have a nuclear weapon,” Rubio said, adding that the recent events had reinforced Washington’s view that Tehran should never be allowed to obtain one.

“If there’s an agreement to be made, we want that to be made,” Rubio said.

He said there has been “some progress and some interest” in the talks, and that Washington would see “over the next few hours and days” whether further progress could be made.

Rubio said the United States would give diplomacy “every chance to succeed,” but added that Trump had other options available if negotiations failed.