Hegseth: US ‘locked and loaded’ to strike Iran’s power plants if no deal reached
By Jack Phillips
and Ryan Morgan
Contributing Writers
A second round of peace talks between the United States and Iran could take place this weekend, President Donald Trump told reporters on Thursday.
“It’s looking very good that we’re going to make a deal with Iran, and it’s going to be a good deal. It’s going to be a deal with no nuclear weapons,” Trump said before departing the White House.
A first round of talks in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad ended on Saturday without an agreement between Washington and Tehran. The next round of negotiations could come just days before the expiration of a two-week ceasefire with Iran.
Trump indicated fighting with Iran could resume if there’s no deal by the end of the two-week truce, which began on April 7.
“If there’s no deal, fighting resumes,” Trump told reporters.
The president also said he’d be willing to extend the ceasefire if a peace agreement appears within reach.
U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Thursday urged Iran’s leadership to reach a deal with the United States, warning that a military operation against the country could be restarted quickly and that Iran’s power plants would be struck.
He said the U.S. government will ensure Iran never has a nuclear weapon, which Trump administration officials say was a primary reason for launching strikes against the country in late February. Iran has long denied it wants to obtain a nuclear weapon and insists its nuclear program is for civilian purposes.
“We’d prefer to do it the nice way through a deal led by our great vice president and negotiating team. Or we can do it the hard way,” Hegseth told reporters at the Pentagon alongside Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Hegseth called on Tehran to “choose wisely” in dealings with the United States.
“I pray you choose a deal, which is within your grasp for the betterment of your people and for the betterment of the world,” Hegseth added.
The U.S. military has kept up a naval blockade on Iran’s ports since Monday in a bid to place economic pressure on the country’s leadership.
“We are reloading with more power than ever before, and better intelligence,” Hegseth said. “We are locked and loaded on your critical dual-use infrastructure, on your remaining power generation, and on your energy industry. We’d rather not have to do it.”
The U.S. Treasury Department issued new sanctions on Wednesday, targeting Iranian assets, including an oil shipping network, in a bid to force Tehran’s hand in negotiations.
Hegseth warned Iran that the U.S. military is only using a small portion of its total power to enforce the blockade, which U.S. Central Command said includes Iran’s Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman ports.
“The math is clear. We’re using 10% of the world’s most powerful navy, and you have zero percent of your navy,” Hegseth said.
The U.S. Navy has 16 warships, including 11 destroyers, three amphibious assault ships, an aircraft carrier, and a littoral combat ship in the Middle East out of a battle force of roughly 300 total warships, officials have said.
Iran also lacks the capacity to rebuild military assets following the five-week-long war, Hegseth said, saying that Tehran “can move things around,” but it cannot “actually rebuild.”
After the U.S. and Israeli militaries struck Iran, the country responded by firing missiles and explosive drones at Israel and other Middle Eastern countries while attacking commercial shipping vessels. The strategic Strait of Hormuz was effectively shut down during the conflict, leading to a surge in oil and gas prices and prompting broader concerns about the global economy.
On Wednesday, an Iranian general said through state-run media that the blockade would trigger the country to attack Gulf Arab states’ ports in the region, including areas along the Red Sea, another key shipping route.
“If the aggressive and terrorist U.S. continues its illegal action in enforcing a maritime blockade in the region and creating insecurity for Iranian commercial vessels and oil tankers, this action by the U.S. will be a precursor of violation of the ceasefire, and the powerful armed forces of Iran will not allow any exports or imports in the Persian Gulf region, the Sea of Oman, and the Red Sea to continue,” Maj. Gen. Ali Abdollahi, commander of Iran’s Khatam al-Anbia Central Headquarters, said in a statement, according to the Iranian semi-official Tasnim News Agency.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
