The US and Iran have so far held three rounds of indirect talks, mediated by Gulf state Oman, aimed at sealing a deal that would block Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon but also lift crippling economic sanctions imposed by Washington.

The two sides will reconvene in Rome on Saturday.

“Message to IRAN: We see your LETHAL support to The Houthis. We know exactly what you are doing,” Hegseth wrote on X. “You know very well what the US Military is capable of – and you were warned. You will pay the CONSEQUENCE at the time and place of our choosing.”

Hegseth, on his personal X account, later re-posted a Trump message on Truth Social from March in which the president said he would hold Iran responsible for any attacks carried out by the Houthi group.

Iran’s leader has previously said that Yemen’s Houthis act independently.

The group controls northern Yemen and has struck shipping in the Red Sea in what it says is solidarity with the Palestinians.

The US has carried out strikes against more than 1,000 targets since it ramped up strikes against the group in March.

The US military has surged assets in recent weeks to reinforce the Middle East. The Pentagon has deployed six B-2 bombers to the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia – which experts say is an ideal position to operate in the Middle East.

Additionally, the US currently has two aircraft carriers in the Middle East and has moved air defence systems from Asia to the region.

While both Tehran and Washington have said they are set on pursuing diplomacy, they remain far apart on a dispute that has rumbled on for more than two decades.

Trump, in an interview with Time magazine earlier this month, said “I think we’re going to make a deal with Iran”, but he repeated a threat of military action against Iran if diplomacy fails.