WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers Wednesday that the Pentagon was providing options to President Donald Trump as he decides next steps on Iran but would not say whether the military was planning to assist with Israeli strikes, an action that could risk dragging America into a wider war in the Middle East.
Hegseth was on Capitol Hill for the last of a series of combative hearings before lawmakers, who have pressed him on everything from a ban on transgender troops to his use of a Signal chat to share sensitive military plans earlier this year.
In questioning before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Hegseth said “maximum force protection” was being provided for U.S. troops in the Middle East and that it is Trump’s decision whether to provide Israel a ”bunker buster” bomb to strike at the core of Iran’s nuclear program, which would require U.S. pilots flying a B-2 stealth bomber. He would not indicate what the U.S. may do next.
“They should have made a deal. President Trump’s word means something — the world understands that,” Hegseth said of Trump pressing Iran to agree to a deal during U.S. talks over Tehran’s rapidly developing nuclear program.
“And at the Defense Department, our job is to stand ready and prepared with options. And that’s precisely what we’re doing,” Hegseth said.
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