U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth just put Iran on notice, telling Reserve Officers’ Training Corps cadets and military recruits at the University of Tennessee on Saturday that President Donald Trump is willing to confront what he called a generational threat in Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. In his words, Iran has a choice to make “real quick,” either giving those ambitions up at the negotiating table or facing devastating force that America can deliver swiftly if necessary. Hegseth accused Iran of building a large conventional missile arsenal to discourage intervention while it chases nuclear capability, and of bankrolling Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthis. He argued that U.S. military strength is what forces adversaries to the table, and he tied the Iran message to Trump’s wider push to reassert American power, including pushing Iranian, Chinese, and Russian influence out of the Western Hemisphere. He also said U.S. operations have significantly reduced Iran’s missile capabilities, according to reports of the speech.

The warning lands in the middle of a tense standoff, because the United States and Iran are tangled in a war and stalled negotiations, with the Strait of Hormuz at the center of the fight. Iran’s foreign minister has said the strait would reopen within days if Washington meets Tehran’s conditions, which include ending the American naval blockade, lifting sanctions on Iranian oil, and a ceasefire on all fronts. The two sides keep telling conflicting stories, with the Trump administration saying the strait is open while Tehran insists it is closed without Iranian permission. Trump said last week that the U.S. would not attack Iran before the November midterms, which has people asking how those two messages fit together. Iran has long insisted its nuclear program is peaceful, and online reaction to the speech has been mixed, with some critics arguing America should stay out of another Middle East showdown.