Hegseth talks about intelligence that led to U.S. action against Iran

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth responded to a question during a briefing Wednesday about what intelligence suggested Iran was a threat that required the U.S. to launch the ongoing operation, months after Iranian nuclear sites were damaged in June’s Operation Midnight Hammer.

Hegseth said “the evidence in front of us” was “that Iran had no intention of actually negotiating a nuclear deal that truly meant they … did not have a pathway to a nuclear bomb.”

He said special envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff gave Iran “every single possible opportunity to release that ambition, and they didn’t.”

“And the intelligence that we saw, saw they didn’t intend to do it in good faith, that they had the intentions eventually to get to a place where they could have that, a conventional shield to block their nuclear capabilities,” he said.

“So, I would separate the what from the when a little bit,” he said. “The what is: They’ve been killing Americans for 47 years. They have thousands of missiles pointed at us. They have ongoing nuclear ambitions, and they’re at the weakest they’ve ever been. So the when became in a particular, ‘Hey, what makes the most sense to do this, to ensure that the narrow objectives we have of ensuring they never have a nuclear weapon, have a maximum effect.'”