Putin offers to mediate Iran war as Democratic senator accuses Hegseth of hiding true cost from the public

From the Newshound archive · first published 9 October 2026.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian at a meeting in Turkmenistan on Thursday that Moscow is prepared to do everything it can to help end the war in Iran, while Trump said "productive discussions" with Tehran are ongoing. Senator Chris Murphy accused Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth of being "determined to hide the cost and the consequences of this war from the American public" after the Pentagon barred him from a major US base in Qatar. Murphy, who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations and Appropriations Committees, said an Iranian drone strike had caused far greater damage to the Saudi embassy than officials had acknowledged. The USS Abraham Lincoln arrived in San Diego on Thursday after a record 265-day deployment during which the crew faced supply shortages and reports of suicide attempts.

Murphy said an Iranian strike on the Saudi embassy — had it hit during daytime — would have killed "many, many Americans", contradicting official claims of minor damage.

Hegseth flew to the Lincoln to award the Presidential Unit Citation but pushed back against what he called efforts to turn the ship into "a symbol of dysfunction or low morale".

Republican senator Susan Collins demanded an apology after Democratic rival Troy Jackson accused her and her husband of "making money off this war" at a Maine Senate debate, without providing evidence.