On Wednesday, a briefing at the Pentagon took an unexpected turn when Secretary of War Pete Hegseth admonished a reporter for interrupting him. The incident occurred as Hegseth was in the middle of addressing another journalist’s questions about Iran and a US-facilitated cease-fire.
The briefing had been focused on Iran’s nuclear capabilities and what Hegseth termed a “new regime” dynamic. As he moved to recognize a different reporter, an unexpected question was shouted from across the room.
Hegseth paused to address the interruption, saying, “Excuse me, why are you so rude? Just wait. I’m calling on people,” before continuing with the briefing. He also muttered, “So nasty,” under his breath.
Once the interruption was handled, the reporter Hegseth initially intended to call on resumed with her question. She referenced a recent statement made by President Donald Trump regarding potential military actions against Iran.
“In President Trump’s recent post on Truth Social, he threatened to wipe out a civilization, which sparked significant reactions across the US,” she noted. “With the deadline for Iran to negotiate passing yesterday, was the president genuinely prepared to annihilate Iran?”
“Yesterday, in the president’s Truth Social, he threatened to wipe out a civilization. That statement elicited a huge response in America,” she said. “If Iran did not come to the table and make a deal yesterday by the deadline, was the president really prepared to wipe out Iran entirely?”
Hegseth responded by outlining what he described as pre-positioned US military options.
“Like I said, we had a target set locked and loaded of infrastructure, bridges, power plants,” Hegseth said. “Remember this is a terror regime. The military regime used all of these things for dual use to fund their military, to fund their terror campaigns.”
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He continued, emphasizing the role of deterrence in negotiations.
“They knew exactly the scope of what we were capable of,” Hegseth said. “We hit some military targets on Kharg, which is a bit of a signal. They can’t defend it.”
According to Hegseth, that pressure shaped Iran’s decision-making at the negotiating table.
“Iran ultimately understood their ability, their future to produce, to generate power, to fuel their terrorist regime was in our hands. It was in President Trump’s hands,” he said. “That’s why they came to the table.”
He added that the threat of expanded strikes played a decisive role in securing a cease-fire.
“He ultimately said, ‘We can take it all from you. Your ability to export energy will be taken away, and the United States military has the ability to strike those things with impunity,’” Hegseth said, referencing Trump. “That type of threat is what brought them to the place where they effectively say, ‘Hey, OK, we want to cut this deal.’”
Earlier in the briefing, Hegseth addressed questions about Iran’s nuclear program and the administration’s stance on enrichment.
“It’s always been non-negotiable that they won’t have nuclear capabilities,” he said. “They will either give it to us voluntarily… or if we have to do something else ourselves… we reserve that opportunity.”
