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<\/p>\nBut when pressed by lawmakers, he acknowledged being ready to carry out any orders on Iran and cautioned that Tehran should have heeded Trump\u2019s calls for it to make a deal on its nuclear program prior to the start of Israel\u2019s strikes on Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey should have made a deal, President Trump\u2019s word means something. The world understands that. And at the Defense Department, our job is to stand ready and prepared with options and that\u2019s precisely what we\u2019re doing,\u201d Hegseth told the Senate Armed Services Committee.<\/p>\n
Hegseth was asked if the Trump administration was moving to re-establish deterrence, a term used to describe actions meant to constrain an adversary from taking hostile action.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we already have in many ways in this environment re-established deterrence,\u201d Hegseth said. \u201cThe question is, in the coming days, exactly what direction that goes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump on Wednesday declined to answer reporters\u2019 questions on whether the U.S. was planning to strike Iran or its nuclear facilities, and said the Iranians had reached out but he feels \u201cit\u2019s very late to be talking.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a big difference between now and a week ago,\u201d Trump said. \u201cNobody knows what I\u2019m going to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump said that Iran had proposed to come for talks at the White House. He did not provide details. He described Iran as totally defenseless, with no air defense whatsoever, as Israel\u2019s strikes entered a sixth day.<\/p>\n
A source familiar with internal discussions said Trump and his team were considering options that included joining Israel in strikes against Iranian nuclear sites. Still, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has rejected Trump\u2019s demand for unconditional surrender.<\/p>\n
Iranians jammed the highways out of the capital Tehran, fleeing from intensified Israeli airstrikes.<\/p>\n