Hegseth: US Navy Can Sustain Iran Blockade Indefinitely
Pentagon chief says US can maintain its naval blockade on Iran indefinitely by rotating ships, as Trump asserts total control over the Strait of Hormuz.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday that the U.S. military has sufficient assets to maintain a naval blockade on Iranian ports indefinitely, signaling that Washington is prepared for a prolonged campaign of economic pressure.
Speaking to reporters in Panama after addressing the crew of the USS Gridley, a guided-missile destroyer that previously served in the Middle East, Hegseth said ships could be rotated in and out of the region as needed.
"Indefinitely the United States Navy can maintain a blockade like that because we'll rotate ships in and out, as we have, and we'll continue to," he said.
The comments come as negotiations to end the conflict, which began with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February, remain stalled. Tehran effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz after the war started, a waterway that previously carried about a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas.
The U.S. responded by imposing a naval blockade on Iranian shipping and ports while pledging to protect freedom of navigation for vessels traveling to and from non-Iranian ports. Washington has deployed tens of thousands of troops and more than 20 warships to the region since the conflict began.
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump asserted on his Truth Social platform that the U.S. has "total control" over the Strait of Hormuz, describing the naval blockade as a "WALL OF STEEL" that Iran cannot counter.
Since the blockade began, U.S. forces have redirected more than 55 commercial vessels attempting to run it, including disabling three ships and boarding two. Earlier this week, a Navy MH-60 helicopter fired two Hellfire missiles into the engine room of a Panama-flagged vessel after it ignored warnings.