{"id":3147,"date":"2026-04-02T02:16:06","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T02:16:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/3147\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T02:16:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T02:16:06","slug":"hegseth-features-fort-carson-soldiers-after-returning-from-middle-east-gives-warning-on-iran-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/3147\/","title":{"rendered":"Hegseth features Fort Carson soldiers after returning from Middle East, gives warning on Iran war"},"content":{"rendered":"

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday the next few days in the\u00a0war against Iran<\/a>\u00a0would be decisive \u200band warned Tehran that the conflict would intensify if it did not make a deal.<\/p>\n

Hegseth also highlighted his trip to the Middle East on Saturday, noting he was heartened to meet with troops he called the \u201cbest of America.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among them were soldiers with the 4th Combat Aviation Brigade from Fort Carson, featured in a picture Hegseth posted Tuesday on social media.<\/p>\n

The 4th Combat Aviation Brigade<\/a> said on its own social media the soldiers were honored to support Hegseth during his visit.<\/p>\n

The aviation brigade headed to the Middle East in August as part of a regular rotation.<\/p>\n

\"\"Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth looks over as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine speaks to members of the media during a press briefing at the Pentagon in Washington on Tuesday. (The Associated Press)<\/p>\n

Hegseth said he heard from the troops during his visit that they want support to move at a higher operational speed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI witnessed urgency to finish the job,\u201d said Hegseth, who did not specify which locations he visited.<\/p>\n

Hegseth said Trump was willing to make a deal and talks were ongoing and \u200bgaining strength, but that the U.S. was prepared to continue the war if Iran did not comply. He also did not address questions about plans for ground troops. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have more and more options, and they have less \u2026 in only one month we set the terms, the upcoming days \u200bwill be decisive,\u201d Hegseth said in Washington. \u201cIran knows that, and there\u2019s almost nothing they can militarily do about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met with the 4th Combat Aviation Brigade on Saturday in the Middle East. (Courtesy of 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, Facebook)<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guard hit back with a new threat, saying that it will target U.S. \u200ccompanies in the region in retaliation for attacks on Iran from Wednesday, listing 18 businesses including Microsoft, Google, Apple, Intel, IBM, Tesla and Boeing.<\/p>\n

Iran earlier set ablaze<\/a>\u00a0a fully loaded oil tanker off Dubai, its latest attack on merchant vessels in the Persian Gulf or in the\u00a0Strait of Hormuz<\/a>\u00a0since the United States and Israel attacked Feb. 28.<\/p>\n

President\u00a0Donald Trump\u00a0threatened on Monday to obliterate Iran\u2019s energy plants if it does not agree to a\u00a0peace deal<\/a>\u00a0and open the strait, a vital waterway for global \u200boil shipments that it has effectively blocked.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Trump criticized countries that have not helped in the war, including France and Britain, saying they \u200bshould find \u201csome delayed courage\u201d to take the Strait and get their own oil.\u00a0France and Italy<\/a>\u00a0have pushed back against some U.S.-Israeli military operations, sources said, highlighting \u2060how the war has exposed divisions between NATO allies.<\/p>\n

The monthlong conflict has spread across the region, killing thousands, disrupting energy supplies and threatening to send the\u00a0global economy into a tailspin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The U.S. has 50,000 troops across the Middle East, according to Central Command. <\/p>\n

Members of the 82nd Airborne Division, based in North Carolina, started arriving on Monday. The paratroopers were set to join 2,500 Marines, Reuters reported.<\/p>\n

Thirteen U.S. service members have been killed since the war started, including Sgt. Benjamin Pennington of Fort Carson, who died March 8 of injuries sustained during an enemy attack a week earlier at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

Gazette reporter Mary Shinn contributed to this story. <\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note: This story was updated since original publication with the correct title of the 4th Combat Aviation Brigade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday the next few days in the\u00a0war against Iran\u00a0would be decisive \u200band…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3148,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[120],"tags":[3950,3951,3952,3953,303,18,3954],"class_list":{"0":"post-3147","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pete-hegseth","8":"tag-4th-combat-infantry-brigade","9":"tag-82nd-airborne-division","10":"tag-benjamin-pennington","11":"tag-fort-carson","12":"tag-middle-east","13":"tag-pete-hegseth","14":"tag-secretary-of-defense-pete-hegseth"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/116332711251885526","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3147\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}