From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, May 5, 2026
Hegseth: Iran ceasefire ‘is not over’, the US is ‘not looking for a fight’
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleLazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
The ceasefire between Iran and the US “is not over,” says Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at a Pentagon press conference.
The comments come a day after Iran fired missiles and drones at UAE and Oman.
Hegseth pushes back on the “false premise that somehow President Trump is being pulled in by Prime Minister Netanyahu.”
He says the US is “grateful for [Israel’s] input, their insights, the existential nature of the threat they face from an Iranian bomb.”
Hegseth acknowledges that Israel “may have some objectives at times that are slightly different than ours, but there’s only one hand on the wheel ultimately.”
Speaking about Project Freedom, the US initiative to help commercial ships out of the Persian Gulf, Hegseth says that “American forces won’t need to enter Iranian waters or airspace.”
“We’re not looking for a fight,” he stresses, adding that “we’d prefer this to be a peaceful operation, but we are locked and loaded to defend our people, our ships, our aircraft, and this mission without hesitation.”
Hegseth also says that Washington plans to “hand over” the effort to secure the Strait of Hormuz “to the world.”
“Hundreds of ships from nations around the world are lining up to go through the strait,” claims Hegseth, while emphasizing that America’s “iron-clad blockade remains in full effect.”
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