{"id":126722,"date":"2026-05-31T09:43:44","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T04:43:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=126722"},"modified":"2026-05-31T09:43:45","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T04:43:45","slug":"talks-productive-but-war-not-off-the-table-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126722\/","title":{"rendered":"Talks productive, but \u2018war not off the table\u2019: US"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">SINGAPORE(National Times)-  As negotiators from Washington and Tehran worked to bridge major differences blocking an agreement to end the weeks-long war, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on Saturday warned that the US was ready to restart attacks on Iran if a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2003852\">deal<\/a>\u00a0was not reached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur ability to recommence if necessary\u2026we are more than capable,\u201d Mr Hegseth said while speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. \u201cOur stockpiles are more than suited for that, both there and around the globe, so we\u2019re in a very good place,\u201d he claimed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Pentagon chief said President Donald Trump was \u201cpatient\u201d and wants to make a \u201cgreat deal\u201d that ensures Iran does not get a nuclear weapon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThose&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2003681\/how-far-have-the-us-and-iran-got-towards-ending-the-iran-war\">goalposts<\/a>&nbsp;haven\u2019t shifted at all,\u201d he said, referring to the US demand that Iran abandon any nuclear ambitions it has, which Tehran says is for civilian purposes. \u201cWe think we\u2019re in a good place to make that deal,\u201d he said, while also warning that the Pentagon was \u201cpostured even stronger today than we were on Day One\u201d. \u201cThe talks have been productive,\u201d Mr Hegseth further said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the Singapore dialogue, he also assured his Asian allies, saying that the US had not turned its back on the Asia-Pacific region despite being engaged in conflict with Iran. \u201cWe can do two things at one time. We\u2019re super-charging our defence industrial base so that we\u2019re building 2X, 3X, 4X the munitions very soon to ensure that all of our (operations) plans are properly funded throughout the world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, US Central Command claimed to have disabled a Gambia-flagged cargo vessel, M\/V Lian Star, attempting to sail to an Iranian port by launching a missile into its engine room. \u201cA US aircraft disabled the vessel by firing a Hellfire missile into the ship\u2019s engine room after Lian Star\u2019s crew failed to comply. The ship is no longer transiting to Iran,\u201d Centcom said on X.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The statement did not mention if there were any injuries aboard the Lian Star following the strike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The war&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1976377\">launched<\/a>&nbsp;by the US and Israel on Feb 28 has killed thousands of people in Iran and Lebanon, and caused global economic pain by pushing up&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1995871\">energy prices<\/a>&nbsp;due to Iran\u2019s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A White House official said that US President Donald Trump would only make a peace deal with Iran if it met all his conditions. \u201cThe Situation Room meeting has concluded and lasted approximately two hours. President Trump will only make a deal that is good for America and satisfies his red lines,\u201d the White House official told AFP on condition of anonymity. \u201cIran can never possess a nuclear weapon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, Mohsen Rezaei, a military adviser to Iran\u2019s supreme leader, said that US President Donald Trump was \u201cbetraying diplomacy for the third time\u201d by continuing \u201cnaval blockade and adop\u00adting increasingly excessive demands in negotiations\u201d. In a post on social media platform X, Mr Rezaei said the US president also \u201cdemonstrated that he is not genuinely interested in negotiations and is pursuing other objectives\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>US-Pakistan ties<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Pentagon chief also&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2003936\">praised<\/a>&nbsp;Pakis\u00adtan for its role in facilitating the peace talks. He said Washington and Islamabad are developing a \u201ctrue friendship\u201d, praising Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and CDF and COAS Field Marshal Asim Mun\u00adir for their role in the US-Iran peace negotiations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Responding to a question at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, he said, \u201cI mentioned India here, but I very easily could have mentioned Pakistan and the role that the field marshal and the prime minister are playing in peace negotiations. I think an unexpected development and a true friendship [is] developing there, which I think is important.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mr Hegseth also reiterated the US and Pakistan\u2019s stance of President Donald Trump&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1966181\">brokering<\/a>&nbsp;a ceasefire between Pakistan and India during the May 2025 conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think both sides are going to see understandable threats coming from the other, maybe some of which we see differently, and countries are going to want to develop ICBM threats,\u201d he said, clarifying that Washington was not \u201cpointing a finger\u201d at either country right now or terming either of them a threat to the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Strait of Hormuz<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Strait of Hormuz blockade, which has become a sticking point in the peace negotiations, was also addressed by the defence secretary. He said various countries were \u201cputting pressure on Iran\u201d to reopen the Strait of Hormuz once a peace deal was agreed on, or even if it was not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Responding to a media query in Singapore, he said that Hormuz would be \u201can open strait, a toll-free strait that the entire world could use\u201d. The secretary asserted that the US-imposed blockade of Iranian ports was \u201cironclad\u201d and had \u201cput the real pressure on Iran\u201d. \u201cThey want to say that they control the strait, but we do, and everything behind the scenes shows that we are in control when it comes to that,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Qatar, meanwhile, rejected proposals for permanent transit fees in the Strait of Hormuz, warning that such measures would ultimately drive up costs for consumers worldwide,&nbsp;<em>Al Jazeera<\/em>&nbsp;reported. Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore, Qatar\u2019s Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Saoud says Doha and its Gulf partners oppose any long-term toll system for ships passing through the strategic waterway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Iran\u2019s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Head\u00ad\u00adquarters, however, reasserted Tehran\u2019s control over the Strait of Hormuz, warning commercial and military vessels to comply with regulations governing passage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAll ships, commercial vessels, and tankers are only required to travel through the designated routes and obtain permission from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy. Any violation of these regulations will seriously jeopardise the security of their traffic,\u201d it added in a statement reported in the Iranian media.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SINGAPORE(National Times)- As negotiators from Washington and Tehran worked to bridge major differences blocking an agreement to end the weeks-long war, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on Saturday warned that the US was ready to restart attacks on Iran if a\u00a0deal\u00a0was not reached. \u201cOur ability to recommence if necessary\u2026we are more than capable,\u201d Mr Hegseth said [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126723,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest_news","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - 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