Pentagon chief Hegseth says US ‘watching Iran 24/7’ to track nuclear program

2 min readApr 29, 2026 11:50 PM IST

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has denied that America and Israel’s war on Iran is a “quagmire” and called Democratic lawmakers “feckless” for criticising the conflict.

Hegseth, who was testifying before the Congress for the first time since the US and Israel launched a war against Iran on February 28, asked the lawmakers to approve a $1.5 trillion defence budget and criticised some lawmakers as “the biggest challenge” in the war effort.

Democrats grilled Hegseth as he appeared before the House armed services committee alongside Genral Dan Caine, chair of the joint chiefs of staff with Representative John Garamendi of California calling it a “quagmire” and “political and economic disaster at every level.”

In response to Garamendi, Hegseth said, “You call it ⁠a quagmire, handing propaganda to our enemies? Shame on you for that statement,” and called Congressional Democrats “reckless, ⁠feckless, and defeatist.”

Defending the US military’s Operation Epic Fury against Iran, the Pentagon chief angrily further said, “Don’t say: ‘I support the troops on one hand, and then a two-month ⁠mission is a quagmire.’ … Who are you cheering for here? Who you pulling for?”

Providing rationale behind the conflict in West Asia, Hegseth said that Iran war was necessary because Tehran had not let go of its “nuclear ambitions.” However, the defence secretary and the defence department’s chief spokesperson had said in June last year after launching attacks that Iran’s nuclear ambitions were “obliterated”.

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