Washington: US President Donald Trump has blamed Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth for pushing the United States toward war against Iran.
The US-Israel conflict with Iran has entered its fourth week. Trump has put on hold for five days all planned military strikes targeting Iran’s power stations and energy infrastructure, amid questions over who triggered the escalation.
There are differing accounts of how the confrontation unfolded. Some observers say Israel was already preparing to launch attacks and that the developments eventually drew the United States into the conflict.
Speaking at a roundtable event in Memphis, Trump said Hegseth was the first to insist on military action. Trump said he asked whether the Middle East problem should be resolved now or delayed, and claimed Hegseth argued that Iran should not be allowed to build a nuclear bomb and that the US should strike.
Trump had earlier offered multiple explanations for the war, including that the operation aimed to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, and that air strikes were a precautionary move to avoid a wider regional conflict.
