Hegseth: Trump Keeps ‘All Options’ on Table as Iran Faces ‘Hard Way’

WASHINGTON, Oct 4:  US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said President Donald Trump would keep “all the options he needs on the table” if Iran refuses to abandon its nuclear ambitions, warning Tehran could face “the hard way.”

“Iran will never, ever, ever have a nuclear weapon,” Hegseth told reporters on Saturday, saying Trump was “hell-bent and determined” to ensure that Iran does not obtain one. Hegseth said the Pentagon was working to maximize Trump’s military options, while declining to say whether the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier strike group, which departed San Diego on Sept. 27, would be sent to the Middle East.

Hegseth said Iran was attempting to rebuild missile and military capabilities damaged in US strikes, but argued that damage to its defense industry had made the process slow and difficult. He also said the United States, rather than Iran, controls the Strait of Hormuz, declaring the US blockade “ironclad” and saying throughput through the waterway was running at almost pre-war levels. “Iran wants to play games with things like the Strait of Hormuz. They don’t control it, we do,” Hegseth said.