WASHINGTON — The United States signaled on Saturday it was “more than capable” of resuming the war with Iran if necessary, as the fate of a potential deal between Washington and Tehran remains elusive. “We are more than capable, our stockpiles are more than suited for that, both there and around the globe because of how we balance exquisite and more plentiful munitions,” US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said speaking at a major defense summit in Singapore on Saturday. The US Central Command (CENTCOM) echoed this stance on X, claiming US forces “remain present and vigilant across the region”. US President Donald Trump has held a meeting with top aides to make a “final determination” about a framework for extending the ceasefire with Iran, but it concluded without clarity on the next steps. Posting on Truth Social beforehand, Trump said Iran must agree to never have a nuclear weapon or bomb, that the Strait of Hormuz be reopened for “unrestricted shipping traffic, in both directions”, and that any mines in the strait be “terminated”. US and Iranian negotiators reached a tentative framework agreement on Thursday to extend the Iran war ceasefire by 60 days and launch negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program toward a final deal. The proposal did still need to be signed off by Trump, who said he sought to make his “final determination” on the deal in an upcoming meeting. Before the meeting concluded, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told state media that no deal had yet been finalized. He added that negotiators were primarily focused on ending the war and were not currently discussing the specifics of Iran’s nuclear program. Iran’s nuclear program remains a major sticking point in the negotiations. Tehran has repeatedly pushed back against this requirement, maintaining that its nuclear activities are solely for peaceful and civilian purposes. Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Saturday that the blockade on Iranian shipping remained in place. It said Iranian vessels were still being prevented from crossing the blockade line and continued to receive warnings from US forces. Reacting to Trump’s latest remarks, Mohsen Rezaei, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, wrote on X: “As predicted, the President of the United States is betraying diplomacy for the third time. “By continuing the naval blockade and making excessive demands in negotiations, he has once again proven that he is not inclined toward negotiation and is pursuing other objectives.” Iran’s Fars news agency earlier cited informed sources as saying that Trump’s latest comments were a “mixture of truth and lies”. There was no provision to destroy nuclear materials in the memorandum of understanding, the agency reported. Iran’s main negotiators also expressed a lack of trust “in guarantees or words,” insisting only actions matter, a reflection of the deep mistrust that persists between the two nations. “No step will be taken before the other side acts,” Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf wrote on X. “We do not gain concessions through talks, but through missiles”. Both Iran and US have accused each other of violating the ceasefire since the ceasefire went into effect roughly seven weeks ago. Nevertheless, negotiations between the two sides have remained ongoing.
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