Washington [US], April 1: US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth says the coming days in the Iran war "will be decisive."
"In only one month, we set the terms; The upcoming days will be decisive. Iran knows that, and there's almost nothing they can militarily do about it," Hegseth told a press conference in Washington on Tuesday.
Hegseth stressed that he would prefer to end the war with a peace deal.
"We don't want to have to do more militarily than we have to. But I didn't mean it flippantly when I said, in the meantime, we'll negotiate with bombs," Hegseth asserted.
He said that the new Iranian leadership should act more wisely than the old one and agree to a deal.
"President [Donald] Trump will make a deal, he is willing, and the terms of the deal are known to them. If Iran is not willing, then the United States War Department will continue with even more intensity," Hegseth warned.
Hegseth pushed Washington's narrative that Iran has been virtually defeated militarily: "Yes, they will still shoot some missiles, but we shut them down. Of note, the last 24 hours saw the lowest number of enemy missiles [and] drones fired by Iran."
Source: Qatar Tribune