Iran must end its attacks on its neighbors in the Persian Gulf. Otherwise, the United States will not hold back in its attacks on Iran, warns Pete Hegseth.
"The United States controls the fate of that country," he said at a press conference at the Pentagon.
"Iran has the opportunity to make the right choices."
However, Hegseth was largely silent about the Strait of Hormuz, where the US strategy is in question, notes the BBC.
"We all have cards in our hands. We have goals; these goals are clear: that the US military should control the destiny of Iran," he said.
Very unstable world
Regarding the $200 billion in addition to the current budget that the Pentagon, according to the AP news agency, has asked the White House for, Hegseth says that the figure is "fluctuating."
"It costs money to kill bad guys," he says, adding that it is of utmost importance that the military is well-funded for all eventualities.
The White House cannot grant such a budget supplement on its own; it must be approved by Congress, where it is not certain that President Donald Trump will get his way, NBC reports.
At a press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Trump was asked why the Pentagon needs nearly 1.9 trillion kronor when he himself had previously said that the war was almost over.
"For several reasons. It's a very unstable world," the president replies.
No ground forces
Among other things, the US wants a lot of ammunition, says Trump, and accuses his rival, Joe Biden, of giving away too much of that commodity to Ukraine.
Pete Hegseth did not want to set a "definitive" timeframe for the war, in which the US has so far struck over 7,000 targets in Iran, according to his information. However, his boss wanted to emphasize one point: that he does not currently plan to deploy ground forces in Iran:
"If I were to, I wouldn't say it. But I'm not going to deploy ground forces."
