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Pressed by Democratic Rep. Pete Aguilar of California on the ceasefire with Iran, Defense Secretary Hegseth insisted Tuesday that the truce remains “in effect.”
“As you know, for the most part a ceasefire means the fire is ceasing, and we know that has occurred while negotiations occur, and there are lots of different discussions with our negotiating team that are happening,” Hegseth said at a congressional hearing. “So, it’s a very dynamic situation, where a negotiated settlement could be the outcome here where Iran does not have nuclear capabilities.”
On the brief Project Freedom operation, which, for a day, saw U.S. warships and planes guide a couple commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, Hegseth said “it was paused and it’s an option we could always recommence, should the commander in chief want us to.”
“The theory of the entire case is to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon, and if that has to be done kinetically and militarily, the Department of War is locked and loaded and ready to do that,” he said.
Hegseth also pushed back on the suggestion that U.S. munitions are depleted, saying “that’s not true.”
“Ultimately we have all the munitions needed to execute what we need to execute, and we’re going to ensure that we supercharge that going into the future,” he said.
Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, who was also testifying before the committee Tuesday, said the U.S. has “sufficient munitions for what we’re tasked to do right now.”
But he added that he “will always want more.”
