Hegseth says US 'prepared' to take military action against Iran if directed by Trump

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated that Washington is prepared to engage in further military action against Iran if directed by Donald Trump. Speaking to reporters, Hegseth expressed a goal to ensure Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon and noted that while the U.S. has caused historic devastation to Iran's military capabilities, the military is ready to go further if the president requests it.

Separate reports indicate that SpaceX founder Elon Musk ordered restrictions on the use of Starshield, the military version of the Starlink satellite communications system, in Ukraine. According to sources cited by The Wall Street Journal, these restrictions disrupted Ukrainian military missions and caused panic in Kyiv and confusion within the Trump administration.

While some officials claim Musk acted unilaterally without a specific order from Trump, a source familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal that Musk had spoken with several senior administration officials, including Trump, before imposing the restrictions.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk and Trump discussed the decision by phone shortly after the restrictions became public, and one source noted they had discussed the issue before the decision was made. Although Trump stated two days after the October 14 report of restrictions that he had not ordered them and did not know who was responsible, The Telegraph cited four sources reporting that Musk had approached Trump regarding the matter.

Brief written by urgent.news from Middle East Eye, Meduza (English) — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.