Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declined to elaborate on potential U.S. involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict, telling a Senate panel Wednesday his job is to ensure President Trump “has options and is informed of what those options might be.”
Hegseth and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine are testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, as the president mulls joining Israel’s offensive against Iran.
“My job, our job, chairman, is at all times to make sure we, the president, has options and is informed of what those options might be and what the ramifications of what those options might be,” Hegseth said.
He was responding to questions from Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who had asked if he had been asked “actively to provide options for the president regarding a strike in the Middle East.” Shaheen noted the U.S. 40,000 troops stationed in the region, many of whom she said are “in range of Iranian missiles.”
Later in Hegseth’s testimony, he said that Iran “had an opportunity to make a deal. They should have made a deal.”
“President Trump’s word means something,” Hegseth said. “The world understands that. And at the Defense Department, our job is to stand ready and prepared with options. And that’s precisely what we’re doing.”
On Tuesday night, some lawmakers on both sides of the aisle moved to limit Mr. Trump’s ability to order U.S. strikes on Iran, on the grounds that many past presidents have found ways to avoid asking for congressional authority to declare war, although the Constitution confers Congress with the power to declare war.
Mr. Trump on Wednesday explicitly said he’s considering joining Israel in strikes on Iran, telling reporters, “I may do it, I may not do it, nobody knows what I’m going to do.”
When asked if it was “too late” to reach a deal with Iran, Mr. Trump said “nothing’s too late.” He added that the Iranians have reached out but Mr. Trump said he told them “it’s really late. You know? I said it’s very late to be talking. … There’s a big difference between now and a week ago.”
Mr. Trump said Iranian officials suggested coming to the White House, which he said was “courageous,” but “not easy for them to do.”
The Iranian embassy said in response that “no Iranian official has ever asked to grovel at the gates of the White House.”
Initially the Trump administration maintained that the U.S. was not involved and that Israel was acting unilaterally. But now, Mr. Trump is considering joining Israel in potential strikes against Iran’s nuclear sites, including the secretive Fordo nuclear enrichment facility. The site is buried deep under a mountain, and military experts say Israel would need U.S. warplanes to drop so-called “bunker-buster” bombs to penetrate the facility.
Mr. Trump on Tuesday called for “unconditional surrender” by Iran’s clerical rulers and threatened Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, saying the U.S. knew where he was but would not kill him — “at least not for now.” The president added, “Our patience is wearing thin.”
Khamenei, in his Wednesday address, called Mr. Trump’s ultimatum “unacceptable.”
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told Al Jazeera English Wednesday that any U.S. involvement would result in an “all-out war.”
Democratic Sen. Jack Reed, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, criticized Hegseth and told him that while he’s been at the helm, the Pentagon has been “paralyzed by infighting and stripped of expert staff at a time when we need stability and professionalism.”
Hegseth responded with a statement that the Defense Department is “executing a common-sense agenda to achieve peace through strength.”
