March 30 (Reuters) - A broker for U.S. Defense Secretary

Pete Hegseth attempted to make a big investment in major defense

companies in the weeks leading up to the U.S.-Israeli attack on

Iran, the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing three

people familiar with the matter.

Hegseth's broker at Morgan Stanley ( MS ) contacted

BlackRock ( BLK ) in February about making a multimillion-dollar

investment in the asset manager's Defense Industrials Active

ETF, shortly before the U.S. launched military action against

Tehran, the report added.