{"id":212152,"date":"2026-05-30T17:12:46","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T17:12:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/us-more-than-capable-of-resuming-war-against-iran-pete-hegseth-says-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T17:12:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T17:12:46","slug":"us-more-than-capable-of-resuming-war-against-iran-pete-hegseth-says-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/us-more-than-capable-of-resuming-war-against-iran-pete-hegseth-says-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"US \u2018more than capable\u2019 of resuming war against Iran, Pete Hegseth says – The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pentagon chief also tells Singapore defence summit of \u2018alarm\u2019 at China\u2019s military buildup but says US does not seek \u2018needless confrontation\u2019
The US warned on Saturday it was \u201cmore than capable\u201d of resuming war with Iran<\/a> after President Donald Trump said any peace deal must adhere to his red lines, including Tehran never being able to develop nuclear weapons.
The White House had signalled Trump was close to a decision<\/a> on an initial deal on Friday after weeks of mixed signals in tenuous negotiations, though Tehran denied there was a final agreement on ending the Middle East conflict that has jolted the global economy.
Trump emerged from the White House situation room after spending more than two hours with senior aides but did not immediately announce his decision.
Meanwhile the Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth<\/a>, while attending a major Asia defence summit in Singapore, said on Saturday local time that Washington could restart the war if it wanted.
\u201cOur ability to recommence if necessary is (that) we are more than capable, our stockpiles are more than suited for that, both there and around the globe because of how we balance exquisite and more plentiful munitions,\u201d he said.
That echoed the US Central Command, which posted on X that American forces \u201cremain present and vigilant across the region\u201d.
The efforts to strike a deal mediated by Pakistan were thrown into question this week by US strikes on the southern Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, countered by retaliatory fire from Iran.
Nevertheless diplomacy continued including in a parallel process to stop fighting in Lebanon \u2013 which Iran has insisted be included in any formal end to the war and where the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, announced Israeli forces had advanced further even as military delegations from both nations met at the Pentagon in Washington.
Two weeks after Trump\u2019s meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing, Hegseth also said there was \u201crightful alarm\u201d about Beijing\u2019s military buildup, but the US sought a \u201crespectful\u201d regional balance.
His headline speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue defence summit, which brings together top defence officials and experts from about 45 countries, contrasted with his strongly confrontational remarks on China<\/a> at last year\u2019s event.
Unlike Beijing, which has sent a panel of military experts and scholars instead of defence minister Dong Jun for the second year running, Hegseth is leading a bumper US delegation to the event that provides chances for both open debate and behind-closed-doors diplomacy.
\u201cWhen we look across the region today, there is rightful alarm regarding China\u2019s historic military buildup and the expansion of its military activities in the region and beyond,\u201d Hegseth said.
Washington does not seek \u201cneedless confrontation in the region,\u201d he said, but rather \u201ca genuinely stable equilibrium [in Asia] that works for Americans as well as our allies\u201d.
That means \u201ca favourable but durable balance of power in which no state, including China, can impose its hegemony and hold the security or prosperity of our nation and our allies in question\u201d, he added.
He said the US sought \u201crespectful\u201d and \u201cgood-faith\u201d engagement with Beijing, adding: \u201cI wish my counterpart was here at this conference, but I look forward to other options when we can cross paths.\u201d
In Beijing, Trump had talked up<\/a> \u201cfantastic\u201d trade deals but provided few details and later suggested that Washington could use its arms sales to self-ruled Taiwan as a bargaining chip with Beijing.
There had been \u201cno change\u201d in Washington\u2019s stance towards Taiwan, but \u201cany decision about future Taiwan arms sales \u2026 will rest with\u201d the US president, Hegseth said.
Analysts have said Dong\u2019s no-show reflects Beijing\u2019s confidence as an established power with little inclination to answer publicly for its assertive moves in the region.
But some argue that China is also running the risk of having no senior policymaker present if two major security issues arise: reopening the strait of Hormuz, and Beijing\u2019s claim to Taiwan.<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pentagon chief also tells Singapore defence summit of \u2018alarm\u2019 at China\u2019s military buildup but says US does not seek \u2018needless confrontation\u2019The US warned on Saturday it was \u201cmore than capable\u201d of resuming war with Iran after President Donald Trump said any peace deal must adhere to his red lines, including Tehran never being able to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":212153,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-212152","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-us","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212152\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}