US vows to go ‘deep and big’ if Iran nuclear talks fail

Trump has also said earlier this week that military action was “absolutely” possible – in conjunction with Israel- if the talks in Oman failed. “If it requires military, we’re going to have military,”

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Sunday that while the US continues to pursue a diplomatic resolution to Iran’s nuclear program, the military stands ready “to go deep and to go big” if talks fail.

Hegseth’s remarks followed the first round of indirect negotiations in Oman between US and Iranian diplomats, which both sides described as “productive.”

Appearing on CBS’s Face the Nation, Hegseth said “While President Donald Trump hoped to never have to resort to a military option. We’ve shown a capability to go far, to go deep and to go big." “Again, we don’t want to do that, but if we have to, we will to prevent the nuclear bomb in Iran’s hands.”

Trump said Wednesday that military action was “absolutely” possible – in conjunction with Israel- if the talks in Oman failed. “If it requires military, we’re going to have military,” he told reporters.

“Israel will obviously be very much involved in that, be the leader of that. “That followed a blunt warning in late March that ‘if they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing.

“Trump pulled the United States out of an earlier multi-nation nuclear agreement with Iran in 2018, during his first term in the White Hous

Analysts say Iran may now be just weeks away from producing a deliverable nuclear weapon – though Tehran denies it is building such arms.

This first round of talks between the US and Iran began Saturday and the next round of talks will take place next Saturday, according to the Iranian and American statements.

The two sides spoke for over two hours at a location in the outskirts of Muscat, Oman’s capital. The convoy believed to be carrying Witkoff returned to Muscat before disappearing into traffic around a neighborhood that is home to the US Embassy.

The stakes of the negotiations couldn’t be higher for the two nations closing in on half a century of enmity. Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran’s nuclear program if a deal isn’t reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.

FP News Desk With inputs from agencies