Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has hinted at a possible war with Iran if the authoritarian country attempts to obtain nuclear weapons. 

Negotiations between the US and Iran over the delicate foreign policy issue are ongoing, and Donald Trump has warned the Middle Eastern nation would face ‘great danger’ if it pushed ahead with alleged ambitions to launch a nuclear arsenal. 

Hegseth doubled down on this threat during an interview on Saturday, saying the president was ‘dead serious’ about his pledge to involve the Department of Defense if talks didn’t go well. 

‘He’s dead serious that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,’ former Army National Guard officer Hegseth told Fox News. ‘He’s said that for 20 years, he’s been consistent, that is clear,’

‘He’s dead serious that he wants it done at the negotiating table, he wants it done peacefully, and that’s why he’s going straight to these talks, he’s set that deadline.’

‘But he’s also dead serious that if we can’t figure this out at the negotiating table then there are other options to include my department to ensure that Iran never has a nuclear bomb,’ Hegseth added, opening up the possibility of an armed conflict. 

‘We hope we never get there, but what we’re doing with the Houthis and what we’re doing in the region, we’ve shown a capability to go far, to go deep, and to go big. 

‘We don’t want to do that, but if we have to, we will to prevent the nuclear bomb in Iran’s hands.’ 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has hinted at a possible war with Iran if the country attempts to obtain nuclear weapons. Donald Trump previously warned the Middle East country would face 'great danger' if it pushed ahead with alleged ambitions to launch a nuclear arsenal

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has hinted at a possible war with Iran if the country attempts to obtain nuclear weapons. Donald Trump previously warned the Middle East country would face ‘great danger’ if it pushed ahead with alleged ambitions to launch a nuclear arsenal

Hegseth has hinted at a possible war with Iran if the country attempts to obtain nuclear weapons. (Pictured: detonation of the nuclear device Ivy Mike in the Marshall Islands in 1950)

Hegseth has hinted at a possible war with Iran if the country attempts to obtain nuclear weapons. (Pictured: detonation of the nuclear device Ivy Mike in the Marshall Islands in 1950)

Hegseth said US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff has held ‘productive talks’ with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi this week, but there are still areas of uncertainty. 

Trump, 78, revealed on Monday that the US was holding the top-level ‘direct’ talks with Iran, while seated in the Oval Office next to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a key ally against the Middle East adversary. 

‘I want Iran to be a wonderful, great, happy country, but they can’t have a nuclear weapon,’ he added on Friday night aboard Air Force One as he flew to Florida for the weekend. 

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 85, has given mixed signals about the negotiations, arguing that engaging would be useless under the shadow of threats. 

The push for a resolution on the nuclear question comes as Iran has faced a series of huge setbacks that has appear to have left Tehran in a weaker negotiating position.

Iranian-backed forces, including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon have been dramatically degraded by Israeli forces in recent weeks. 

Israel previously damaged facilities linked to Tehran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs in Tehran in October. 

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (pictured) has given mixed signals about ongoing talks with the US, arguing that engaging would be useless under the shadow of threats

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (pictured) has given mixed signals about ongoing talks with the US, arguing that engaging would be useless under the shadow of threats

US airstrikes have also been targeting Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen, striking oil refineries, airports and missile sites.

Meanwhile, Iran suffered another blow in December when their closest Middle Eastern ally, Syrian leader Bashar Assad, was ousted after more than two decades in power.  

The leaders of the Islamic Republic are facing domestic pressure too, after years of international sanctions have slowly choked the economy.    

The US Treasury Department announced a new round of sanctions earlier this week targeting five entities and an individual that American officials say play key roles in Iran’s nuclear program.

Iran was previously limited to only a small stockpile of uranium enriched to 3.67 percent under a 2015 nuclear deal it reached with the Obama administration. 

Trump scrapped the deal during his first term as president, enabling Iran to build multiple nuclear weapons with some material enriched up to 60 percent – a short, technical step away from destructive weapons-grade levels. 

The US president allegedly abandoned the previous deal which prevented this in order to spite his predecessor, Barack Obama, according to a leaked memo written by the UK’s former ambassador to the US. 

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