Talks productive, but ‘war not off the table’: US

The Pentagon chief said President Donald Trump was “patient” and wants to make a “great deal” that ensures Iran does not get a nuclear weapon. “Those goalposts haven’t shifted at all,” he said, referring to the US demand that Iran abandon any nuclear ambitions it has, which Tehran says is for civilian purposes. “We think we’re in a good place to make that deal,” he said, while also warning that the Pentagon was “postured even stronger today than we were on Day One”. “The talks have been productive,” Mr Hegseth further said. At the Singapore dialogue, he also assured his Asian allies, saying that the US had not turned its back on the Asia-Pacific region despite being engaged in conflict with Iran. “We can do two things at one time. We’re super-charging our defence industrial base so that we’re building 2X, 3X, 4X the munitions very soon to ensure that all of our (operations) plans are properly funded throughout the world,” he said. Meanwhile, US Central Command claimed to have disabled a Gambia-flagged