{"id":81312,"date":"2026-03-09T17:34:51","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T17:34:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2026\/03\/09\/hegseth-downplays-risk-to-us-troops-from-iran-russia-cooperation\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T17:01:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T17:01:55","slug":"hegseth-downplays-risk-to-us-troops-from-iran-russia-cooperation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2026\/03\/09\/hegseth-downplays-risk-to-us-troops-from-iran-russia-cooperation\/","title":{"rendered":"Hegseth downplays risk to US troops from Iran-Russia cooperation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth contends that American troops are not in danger across the Middle East \u2013 even as the Pentagon announced on Sunday that a seventh U.S. service member had been killed in the war against Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The latest casualty, Sgt. Benjamin Pennington, 26, died of wounds sustained in an Iranian attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, according to the Department of Defense. His death came one day after President Donald Trump and other senior officials observed the solemn return of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2026\/03\/08\/first-us-casualties-of-operation-epic-fury-return-as-trump-vows-escalation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2026\/03\/08\/first-us-casualties-of-operation-epic-fury-return-as-trump-vows-escalation\/\">six flag-draped cases<\/a> to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With the conflict now in its second week, U.S. officials have said that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2026\/03\/06\/russia-provided-iran-with-information-that-can-help-tehran-strike-us-military-sources-say\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2026\/03\/06\/russia-provided-iran-with-information-that-can-help-tehran-strike-us-military-sources-say\/\">Russia is covertly providing intelligence to Iran<\/a> that could help the Islamic Republic target American personnel, warships and aircraft in the region. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hegseth, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=CA73grSSk8E\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=CA73grSSk8E\">in an interview with CBS\u2019s \u201c60 Minutes\u201d<\/a> on Sunday, dismissed the idea that U.S. forces are at risk amid the coordination between two of America\u2019s adversaries. \u201cNo one is putting us in danger,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re putting their guys in danger.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019re tracking everything. Our commanders are aware of everything,\u201d Hegseth continued. \u201cThe only ones that need to be worried right now are Iranians who think they are going to live.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2026\/03\/06\/russia-provided-iran-with-information-that-can-help-tehran-strike-us-military-sources-say\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP26065449909927.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Russia provided Iran with information that can help Tehran strike US military, sources say<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The information could help Tehran strike American warships, aircraft and other assets in the region.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The alignment between Moscow and Tehran was underscored Monday when Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Iran\u2019s newly appointed supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, on his elevation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Khamenei is the son of Ali Khamenei, who served as supreme leader from 1989 until he was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the first day of the current conflict. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI want to confirm our unwavering support for Tehran and solidarity with our Iranian friends,\u201d Putin said in a statement. \u201cI am confident that you will continue your father\u2019s work with honor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tehran\u2019s choice signals a message of defiance aimed at Washington. At 56, Khamenei takes the helm of a regime steeped in the hard-line theocratic rule his father exercised for decades. Trump, who has previously called Khamenei an \u201cunacceptable\u201d option to lead Iran, said on Sunday that he is \u201cnot happy\u201d with the appointment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hegseth, when asked about the status of the war, told \u201c60 Minutes\u201d the U.S. is \u201cvery much on track, on plan.\u201d But he declined to rule out further escalation, including the possibility of deploying U.S. ground forces into Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The defense secretary said both he and Trump are cognizant that \u201cyou don\u2019t tell the enemy, you don\u2019t tell the press, you don\u2019t tell anybody what your limits would be on an operation.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He added that the U.S. is \u201cwilling to go as far as we need to in order to be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;No one is putting us in danger,\u201d Hegseth said during a Sunday interview. \u201cWe\u2019re putting their guys in danger.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":111216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":62,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,12,26,62,65],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3415],"class_list":["post-81312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-your-navy"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"UJD6ZDHSMBGGLIUXR7YVOABC7Q","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2026\/03\/09\/hegseth-downplays-risk-to-us-troops-from-iran-russia-cooperation\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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