Pentagon Chief: US has more options as Iran war nears decisive phase, door open to deal
- The United States says it has “more options” against Iran as the conflict continues.
- Washington points to effective strikes and a decline in the number of missiles fired by Iran.
- The coming days could be “decisive,” while the Trump administration leaves the door open to a deal.
Tensions between the United States (US) and Iran remain in focus after a series of comments from US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reported by Reuters, who said the coming days could be decisive in the conflict. Washington believes it holds a growing advantage over Tehran while leaving the door open to a potential deal, but warns that the war could intensify if no agreement is reached.
Key takeaways
Visited Middle East on Saturday, spoke with US troops
US has more and more options, Iran has less
Upcoming days will be decisive in war with Iran and nothing Iran can do about
Past 24 hours saw lowest number of enemy missiles fired by Iran
US strikes causing widespread desertions in Iran
If Iran is wise, they'll cut a deal
New Iran regime should be wiser than the last
Trump is willing to make a deal
If Iran doesn't make a deal, war will continue with more intensity
More vessels flowing through the Strait of Hormuz thanks to Trump
World should be prepared to step up
Where necessary addressing what Russia, China are doing
Objectives have been very clear
Trump has led, US laid conditions for success
Not going to foreclose any option
The point is to be unpredictable on whether US deploys boots on the ground or not
Could be four, six, eight weeks or any number
Market reaction
The US Dollar Index (DXY) falls 0.33% on the day to around 100.17 at the time of writing, with the Greenback showing little reaction to the latest comments from Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth.
US Dollar Price Today
The table below shows the percentage change of US Dollar (USD) against listed major currencies today. US Dollar was the strongest against the Canadian Dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | -0.38% | -0.42% | -0.25% | 0.10% | -0.33% | -0.02% | 0.06% | |
| EUR | 0.38% | -0.03% | 0.17% | 0.52% | 0.08% | 0.39% | 0.48% | |
| GBP | 0.42% | 0.03% | 0.21% | 0.56% | 0.11% | 0.42% | 0.52% | |
| JPY | 0.25% | -0.17% | -0.21% | 0.36% | -0.08% | 0.22% | 0.33% | |
| CAD | -0.10% | -0.52% | -0.56% | -0.36% | -0.44% | -0.13% | -0.03% | |
| AUD | 0.33% | -0.08% | -0.11% | 0.08% | 0.44% | 0.32% | 0.40% | |
| NZD | 0.02% | -0.39% | -0.42% | -0.22% | 0.13% | -0.32% | 0.09% | |
| CHF | -0.06% | -0.48% | -0.52% | -0.33% | 0.03% | -0.40% | -0.09% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the US Dollar from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent USD (base)/JPY (quote).