Pentagon denies that Hegseth’s broker sought investment before Iran war

US Department of Defense demands retraction of report alleging broker sought multimillion-dollar investment for Hegseth.The United States Department of Defense has demanded the retraction of a newspaper report alleging that a broker for defence chief Pete Hegseth attempted to make a large investment in weapons companies in the run-up to the war on Iran.Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell demanded the “immediate” retraction on Monday after The Financial Times reported that a wealth manager for the defence secretary contacted BlackRock about making a multimillion-dollar investment in a defence-related fund in the weeks leading up to the war.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Iran’s foreign ministry rejects US ceasefire demandslist 2 of 4US raises concern over Israel’s closure of Jerusalem holy siteslist 3 of 4Watch: Full interview with Marco Rubio on the US war against Iranlist 4 of 4At least 70 killed, 30 wounded in Haiti gang attack, rights group saysend of listHegseth’s broker at Morgan Stanley ultimately did not go ahead with the investment in the exchange-traded fund, whose holdings include Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, because it was not yet available for purchase at the time, The Financial Times reported, citing three unnamed sources.“This allegation is entirely false and fabricated. Neither Secretary Hegseth nor any of his representatives approached BlackRock about any such investment,” Parnell said in a post on social media.“This is yet another baseless, dishonest smear designed to mislead the public.”Hegseth and his department “remain unwavering in their commitment to the highest standards of ethics and strict adherence to all applicable laws and regulations,” Parnell said.Al Jazeera could not independently confirm The Financial Times report.The Defense Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside of usual business hours.The Financial Times and Morgan Stanley also did not immediately respond to inquiries.