US can maintain Iran blockade ‘indefinitely,' says defense chief

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday that the US can maintain its blockade of Iranian ports “indefinitely,” helped by its ability to rotate ships in and out of the region as needed.

“We can hold (the blockade) as long as we need to. Indefinitely, the United States Navy can maintain a blockade like that because we'll rotate ships in and out as we have and will continue to,” Hegseth told reporters in Panama, where he traveled for a closing ceremony for a multinational drill.

“No other nation on earth, no other navy on earth has the capability to have a wall of steel like the US Navy, and then the willingness to use it as we have,” he added.

“So Iran knows it can't get in and out on this blockade, and they know that there's no timeline on it either,” said Hegseth.

US President Donald Trump said earlier this week that the US has “total control” over the Strait of Hormuz and vowed to maintain the naval blockade.

Iranian military officials, however, disputed US control over the waterway, with Iran’s central military command calling the claims “baseless lies and fabrications.”

“The false US claims regarding the normal passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, which reflect the helplessness and confusion of that country’s military, are nothing but falsehoods and baseless lies,” the military command said in a statement carried by Iranian state broadcaster IRIB.

The US and Iran agreed to a Pakistan-brokered ceasefire in April and later signed a deal on June 17, launching negotiations toward a final agreement. But the talks later stalled over disagreements on security guarantees and freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most strategic routes for global energy supplies and trade.

On July 8-24, the US and Iran exchanged more military strikes, with Washington launching attacks on targets inside Iran. Tehran responded by striking what it described as US military facilities and equipment in several Arab countries, including Jordan, Bahrain, and Kuwait.