'We can get it done': Pete Hegseth points to Trump's Iran war options

WASHINGTON, DC: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said President Donald Trump will decide the next phase of the Iran war, while warning Tehran that the administration has “all the options he needs on the table.”

Hegseth declined to say whether US operations would end by year’s end, saying he would defer to Trump and citing Iran’s nuclear program and the Strait of Hormuz as vital US interests.

His comments came Saturday, October 3, as Hegseth discussed the conflict while the war entered its eighth month and US-Iran talks had stalled.

Pete Hegseth says Trump can decide the next phase

“We feel like we're in a very strong position,” Hegseth told a reporter when asked whether Iran operations would be over by the end of the year. He said Trump would determine the next steps, adding that Iran “ought make the right choice.”

Hegseth said the administration had a clear mission: “Iran will never have a nuclear bomb. Full stop.” 

He contrasted the conflict with previous US wars that lasted years or decades, saying the current approach has a defined mission.

He pointed to the US military operations Midnight Hammer and Epic Fury as evidence that Washington had already demonstrated its position on Iran’s nuclear capabilities. 

Hegseth also said Iran did not control the Strait of Hormuz, declaring, “We do.”

The secretary said the US blockade had been “ironclad” and that military operations were running “almost at pre-war levels every single night” in terms of throughput.

Hegseth said Trump would not allow the conflict to continue unnecessarily, while maintaining that the president could act if Iran rejected the administration’s demands.

“He’s not going to let these things extend unnecessarily,” Hegseth said.

“Because =he understands what the mission is and we can get it done when called upon,” he added.

Hegseth attacks reports on long Navy deployments

Hegseth made the remarks as he delivered a ‘State of the Force’ address to senior military leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia. 

He also criticized media reports about the length and conditions of the conflict during his address.

He accused the media of making “disingenuous claims about deployment length,” apparently referring to reporting about the USS Abraham Lincoln’s deployment, which a HuffPost report described as exceeding 250 days at sea.

President Donald Trump responded to questions about the deployment by saying it was “not nearly long enough.” 

President Trump weighs next steps as talks stall

The comments also came after Trump’s top national security aides met secretly at Camp David to discuss the Iran war and a Saudi offensive against Houthi forces in Yemen, according to three US officials cited by Axios.

Vice President JD Vance chaired the meeting, which included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Hegseth, White House envoy Steve Witkoff, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen Dan Caine.

The meeting came as US-Iran talks had stalled after Trump rejected Tehran’s latest peace proposal. 

Trump has also said, “They’ll either sign a very fair deal, or they won’t exist any longer.”

Asked Friday about his next move on Iran, Trump gave reporters no specifics, saying, “If I told you, you would have a major story.”