US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday that American forces stationed in the Middle East are prepared to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, speaking a day after an unannounced meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at an air base in southern Israel.
“I got to see some of our warfighters — they’re preparing and ready to ensure that Iran never has a nuclear weapon,” Hegseth told reporters. “They’ve been vigilant for many months. They’re prepared, and they’re dialed in. You look into their eyes, and they’re ready to go.”
A secret visit to Ovda air base
The meeting took place Monday at Ovda Air Base in the Negev desert, where Hegseth sat down with Netanyahu and senior defense officials. Netanyahu’s spokesman Doron Spielman confirmed the talks, saying the two discussed regional threats and US-Israeli cooperation on “both offensive and defensive” measures.
Neither government released details of the substance. Hegseth declined to elaborate: “Of course, the nature of our conversation is not something I would talk about.” The Pentagon had not publicly disclosed the trip in advance, and the visit came amid growing US-Iran tensions over the Strait of Hormuz and Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia.
Election-week signaling
The timing is conspicuous: Israelis vote in a parliamentary election on October 27, just six days away. Trump endorsed Netanyahu’s reelection on October 18, calling him a “Great Warrior Prime Minister” — an endorsement Vice President JD Vance pointedly declined to match, saying he would stay out of Israeli elections.
For Netanyahu, the imagery of the sitting prime minister meeting the American defense secretary at a military base is potent campaign material. For Washington, the visit reinforced close military coordination at a moment when both countries are weighing renewed strikes on Iran.
What remains unknown
What was actually agreed at Ovda remains undisclosed. Reports indicate US aerial refueling aircraft and fighter jets have been positioned at the base — assets that would be critical to any sustained campaign against Iran, though officials stress no attack has been authorized.
The meeting at Ovda came as US Central Command repositioned additional assets across the region, and amid repeated statements from Washington that ‘all options are on the table’ to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran. Israeli officials have privately pressed for a harder line, arguing that diplomacy without a credible military threat has failed to curb Tehran’s program.
