US Defense Secretary Hegseth Vows Military Readiness Against Iran Despite Ceasefire Talks
At Singapore's Shangri-La defense summit, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared that the military is fully prepared to resume combat operations in the Persian Gulf if negotiations with Iran fail, while emphasizing America's defensive posture toward China's military expansion.
Military Preparedness
The US military is ready to resume combat in the Gulf if required and is more strongly placed to do so than on day one of the conflict, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters in Singapore on Saturday. "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," US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said speaking at a major defence summit in Asia on Saturday.
Strait of Hormuz Confidence
The matter of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz came up regularly in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's conversations with other countries at the Shangri-La defense conference in Singapore. "The blockade is very much still in place, and the Strait of Hormuz came up relatively often, and usually once we talked through it, countries were reassured that the American perspective accounted for [their concerns], which it did from the beginning," Hegseth said Saturday.
Energy Security Vision
Hegseth added that a deal with Iran is intended to "reshape the global map" when it comes to energy. "The president has talked about … how the future in energy is actually an American future, and that's good for energy security around the world," the defense secretary said. "It will be an open strait, a toll-free strait, that the entire world can use then, which is the way that it should be," he added.
China Concerns
The U.S. defense secretary said there is "rightful alarm" of China's military build up. However, he also struck a more moderate tone on U.S.-China relations – and notably sidestepped bringing up Taiwan.