WASHINGTON, June 18. /TASS/. The US armed forces stand ready for any decision that US President Donald Trump could make about Iran, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said.
Iran "had an opportunity to make a deal. They should have made a deal. President Trump's word means something. 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," he said during a hearing at US Senate Committee on Armed Services.
"We have plans for everything," he went on to say when asked whether the Pentagon is ready for an armed conflict with Iran.
Hegseth earlier declined to say at the hearing whether the Pentagon had already provided Trump with information about how ready the US armed forces are to act if Washington decides to strike Iran. The defense secretary signaled he could provide more information about that during the closed-door part of the hearing.
Trump earlier said the US could strike Iran. On June 17, Axios reported, citing sources, that the US president is considering the option for the US to join Israel's military operation against Iran and strike the Iranian nuclear sites.
Overnight into June 13, Israel started Operation Rising Lion against the Iranian nuclear program. Less than a day later, Iran carried out a retaliatory attack. Over the following days, Israel and Iran traded blows again. Both sides reported fatalities and other casualties in the attacks, acknowledged that some targets on their territory were hit, but said the damage was limited. Mutual strikes are ongoing.