Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth stated the U.S. has heard Iran speaking about inserting new mines within the Strait of Hormuz, however he instructed reporters Friday, “We’ve got no clear proof of that.”
He and Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine briefed reporters on the Pentagon Friday on the most recent developments within the battle with Iran, as ship site visitors stays largely stopped within the Strait, although Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has stated the U.S. Navy might escort oil tankers via the waterway.
U.S. forces are persevering with to focus on Iran’s ballistic missiles and “persevering with to destroy the Iranian navy,” Caine stated, “and this implies going after Iran’s mining functionality and destroying their capacity to go after industrial vessels.”
“That is not a strait we will permit to stay contested,” Hegseth instructed reporters.
Hegseth and Caine spoke a day after a U.S. army refueling tanker crashed in western Iraq, killing at the very least 4 U.S. service members. Caine stated Friday rescue efforts had been nonetheless underway as two different crew members stay lacking. Hegseth stated of the crash that “unhealthy issues occur,” and he praised the crew as heroes.
The crash occurred over pleasant territory whereas the crew was on a fight mission, Caine stated, including that it was not on account of hostile or pleasant fireplace.
For the reason that battle started on Feb. 28, the U.S. army struck about 6,000 targets in Iran as of Thursday, in response to Central Command. The U.S. and Israel mixed have hit greater than 15,000 “enemy targets,” in response to Hegseth.
Iran’s missile quantity is down 90%, Hegseth instructed reporters Friday. All of Iran’s protection corporations will probably be destroyed — all have been “functionally defeated,” he stated.
However Iran’s assaults have continued, and oil costs have risen to over $100 a barrel whereas inventory costs are sliding, even within the face of the president’s assertions that he’ll finish the battle quickly and bulletins of main oil reserve releases.
Bessent introduced on Thursday that the U.S. would briefly loosen sanctions in opposition to Russia, to permit the Kremlin to promote Russian oil that is already at sea. It is an effort to ease restrictions on Russia’s oil trade because the world grapples with excessive oil costs.
Requested about Iran’s nuclear program and whether or not U.S. army would wish to take management of the enriched uranium in Iran’s possession to be able to conclude its army operation, Hegseth solely stated that the U.S. retains choices to maintain Iran from buying a nuclear weapon. “We’ve got choices, for certain,” he stated.
Hegseth was additionally requested concerning the army investigation into the bombing of an elementary faculty in Iran and experiences {that a} preliminary probe steered the U.S. was answerable for the strike. Hegseth stated CENTCOM has designated an investigating officer from outdoors CENTCOM to hold out a command investigation of the incident, however declined to offer a timeframe for the investigation.
To this point, the administration has stated little about Iran’s new Supreme Chief Mojtaba Khamenei, who was stated by an Iranian official to have been injured within the assault, however is “alive and effectively,” although he has not been seen because the battle started.
Hegseth stated Friday, “We all know the brand new, so-called not-so-Supreme Chief is wounded and sure disfigured,” noting {that a} assertion attributed to Khamenei on Thursday was written and included no picture of him.
Iranian state media launched the assertion, which stated Iran ought to hold leveraging its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz and vowed to proceed assaults on targets in Gulf Arab nations.
