Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday the next few days in the war against Iran would be decisive ​and warned Tehran that the conflict would intensify if it did not make a deal.

Hegseth also highlighted his trip to the Middle East on Saturday, noting he was heartened to meet with troops he called the “best of America.”

Among them were soldiers with the 4th Combat Aviation Brigade from Fort Carson, featured in a picture Hegseth posted Tuesday on social media.

The 4th Combat Aviation Brigade said on its own social media the soldiers were honored to support Hegseth during his visit.

The aviation brigade headed to the Middle East in August as part of a regular rotation.

Hegseth said he heard from the troops during his visit that they want support to move at a higher operational speed.

“I witnessed urgency to finish the job,” said Hegseth, who did not specify which locations he visited.

Hegseth said Trump was willing to make a deal and talks were ongoing and ​gaining strength, but that the U.S. was prepared to continue the war if Iran did not comply. He also did not address questions about plans for ground troops.

“We have more and more options, and they have less … in only one month we set the terms, the upcoming days ​will be decisive,” Hegseth said in Washington. “Iran knows that, and there’s almost nothing they can militarily do about it.”

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard hit back with a new threat, saying that it will target U.S. ‌companies in the region in retaliation for attacks on Iran from Wednesday, listing 18 businesses including Microsoft, Google, Apple, Intel, IBM, Tesla and Boeing.

Iran earlier set ablaze a fully loaded oil tanker off Dubai, its latest attack on merchant vessels in the Persian Gulf or in the Strait of Hormuz since the United States and Israel attacked Feb. 28.

President Donald Trump threatened on Monday to obliterate Iran’s energy plants if it does not agree to a peace deal and open the strait, a vital waterway for global ​oil shipments that it has effectively blocked.

On Tuesday, Trump criticized countries that have not helped in the war, including France and Britain, saying they ​should find “some delayed courage” to take the Strait and get their own oil. France and Italy have pushed back against some U.S.-Israeli military operations, sources said, highlighting ⁠how the war has exposed divisions between NATO allies.

The monthlong conflict has spread across the region, killing thousands, disrupting energy supplies and threatening to send the global economy into a tailspin.

The U.S. has 50,000 troops across the Middle East, according to Central Command.

Members of the 82nd Airborne Division, based in North Carolina, started arriving on Monday. The paratroopers were set to join 2,500 Marines, Reuters reported.

Thirteen U.S. service members have been killed since the war started, including Sgt. Benjamin Pennington of Fort Carson, who died March 8 of injuries sustained during an enemy attack a week earlier at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.

Gazette reporter Mary Shinn contributed to this story.

Editor’s note: This story was updated since original publication with the correct title of the 4th Combat Aviation Brigade.