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Hegseth Reportedly Says US Can Maintain Iran Blockade Indefinitely

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US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly said Thursday the US can sustain a naval blockade of Iran indefinitely, even as the Iranian Foreign Minister warned of another US miscalculation.

The US Navy can maintain the blockade by rotating ships into and out of the region as needed, Hegseth said during a press briefing on Thursday after addressing the crew aboard the USS Gridley, according to multiple media reports.

The US Department of War did not immediately reply to' request for comment.

On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump signaled Washington's intention to maintain control of the critical chokepoint in a social media post.

"The USA has total control over the Strait of Hormuz. I think we will keep it," Trump posted on Truth Social, describing the blockade as a "wall of steel."

Responding to the US position, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on Thursday that US intelligence failures had already led Washington to misjudge the conflict, according to a post on X.

Araghchi warned of "an even bigger miscalculation on the Strait of Hormuz" and urged caution, according to the post.

Mohammad Mokhber, adviser and assistant to Mojtaba Khamenei, said Iran's strategy could reshape global power dynamics if the country's conditions remain unmet, according to a post on X.

"With the proven inability of the United States to protect its allies in the Persian Gulf, the most enduring path to a new regional order lies in implementing the Hormuz economic-security mechanism, independent of Washington's military guarantees," Mokhber posted.

On Thursday, Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority rejected US claims on control over the strait in a social media post, reaffirming its stance that the Hormuz was still under Iranian control.

"The successive claims and tweets by American officials about lifting the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz do not change reality; the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked and will not be reopened until Iran's conditions are accepted," PGSA posted on X.

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