Iran attacks Pete Hegseth on reports he sought to profit from the war
Updated . First published at
Iran's foreign minister has taken a swipe at US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth over reports he sought to profit over the conflict.
Yesterday the Financial Times reported Hegseth sought to make multi-million dollar investments in defence stocks in the weeks before the Iran war began.
The Pentagon vociferously denied the reports.
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Pete Hegseth has denied seeking to make defence investments before the war with Iran began. AP
Posting a screenshot of the article, Seyed Abbas Araghchi was sharply critical of Hegseth.
"Nothing says 'America First' like launching a war for a foreign regime while trying to profit as young soldiers are sent off to die," Araghchi said.
"This war of choice is imposed on both Americans and Iranians."
The Financial Times reported Hegseth's broker contacted investment firm BlackRock about investing in their Defense Industrials Active ETF.
Because the fund was not yet ready to take on investors, the purchase did not take place, the newspaper reported.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell has denied the reports.
"This allegation is entirely false and fabricated," Parnell said.
"Neither Secretary Hegseth nor any of his representatives approached BlackRock about any such investment.
"This is yet another baseless, dishonest smear designed to mislead the public."
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Pete Hegseth was a Fox News anchor before being appointed to lead the Pentagon. AP
Parnell demanded an immediate retraction.
"Secretary Hegseth and the Department of War remain unwavering in their commitment to the highest standards of ethics and strict adherence to all applicable laws and regulations," he said.
The Financial Times cited "three people familiar with the matter" in making their reporting, all anonymous.
The Trump administration has been attracting scrutiny after a series of well-timed trades before major actions.
An entity or several entities traded heavily on S&P 500 and oil futures minutes before a Truth Social post from Donald Trump sent markets swinging earlier this month.
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Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks as US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio listen during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Thursday, March 26, 2026, in Washington AP Photo/Alex Brandon
In the space of a minute, more than $800 million in trades was made on oil futures.
And whoever made those trades made an incredible amount of money.
Betting app Kalshi has refused to pay out $77 million in winnings to punters who bet Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would be out of office by March 1.
Khamenei was killed by a US and Israeli bombing strike hours before the deadline was reached.
Meanwhile on Polymarket, 150 accounts bet more than a million dollars that the US would strike Iran the next day.
And in January, a Polymarket user made about $570,000 betting that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro would be out of office before the end of the month.
They had doubled down on their bet hours before the US seized the leader in a military strike.
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