US Defense Sec. Esper: US doesn't want war with Iran but is ready to finish one

In an interview with CNN on Tuesday, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper noted that the US wants to see the situation with Iran de-escalated but reiterated that they are ready to finish it if Iran were to start a war, per Reuters.

"Soleimani was meeting in Baghdad with another leader to coordinate attacks on US facilities," Esper explained. "The US intelligence that prompted US strike on Soleimani is persuasive." Esper further added that he was confident that President Trump would give him only legal orders.

These comments don't seem to be impacting the market sentiment. As of writing, the 10-year US Treasury bond yield was up 0.25% on the day and Wall Street's main indexes were trading mixed with the Nasdaq Composite posting small gains and the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average registering modest losses.