U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday the next few days in the war against Iran would be decisive and warned Tehran that the conflict would intensify if it did not make a deal.
Hegseth issued his warning hours after Iran set ablaze a fully loaded oil tanker off Dubai, its latest attack on merchant vessels in the Gulf or in the Strait of Hormuz since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Monday to obliterate Iran’s energy plants if it does not agree to a peace deal and open the strait, a vital waterway for global oil shipments that has effectively been blocked by Iran.