Next days in Iran war will be 'decisive'

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday that the next days of the Iran war will be 'decisive' while refusing to rule out US ground forces playing a role in the conflict.
Hegseth also revealed during a news conference - his first in nearly two weeks - that he had visited US troops in the Middle East over the weekend, and said that talks on ending the conflict were 'gaining strength.'
'The upcoming days will be decisive. Iran knows that, and there's almost nothing they can militarily do about it,' Hegseth said.
Asked about concerns among some of President Donald Trump's base about the possible use of ground troops in Iran, Hegseth declined to tip his hand. 'You can't fight and win a war if you tell your adversary what you are willing to do, or what you are not willing to do, to include boots on the ground,' he said.
'If we needed to, we could execute those options on behalf of the president of the United States and this department. Or maybe we don't have to use them at all - maybe negotiations work,' Hegseth said.
The Pentagon chief said talks on ending the war were making progress even as the more than month-long US-Israeli military campaign against Iran continued.
'They are very real. They are ongoing, they are active, and I think, gaining strength,' Hegseth said of the negotiations.
He also said he had made an unannounced trip to visit US troops taking part in operations against Iran.
TANKER HIT
Tehran attacked and set ablaze a fully loaded oil tanker ​off Dubai on Tuesday, and US President Donald Trump told countries that had not helped in the conflict to find 'some delayed courage' to take the Strait of Hormuz and get their own oil.
Authorities in Dubai said the fire on the Kuwait-flagged Al Salmi had been brought under control following a drone attack, with no oil leak and no injuries to the crew. Kuwait Petroleum Corp, the ship's owner, said the vessel's hull was damaged.
The attack was the latest on merchant vessels in the strait, a vital waterway for shipping oil, since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28.
LSEG Data showed the vessel was heading to Qingdao in China, and was carrying 1.2 million barrels of Saudi crude oil and 800,000 barrels of Kuwaiti crude, according ⁠to monitoring service TankerTrackers.com.
After earlier threatening to obliterate Iran's energy plants if it does not agree to a peace deal and open the Strait of Hormuz, Trump said in a social media post on Tuesday that countries running short of jet fuel needed to look after themselves, or buy from the US '...build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT. You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the USA won’t be there to help you anymore, just like ​you weren’t there for us. Iran has been, ⁠essentially, decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil!' he wrote.