US Can Maintain Sea Blockade Against Iranian Ports Without Time Limit

JAKARTA - The United States military has enough assets to maintain a naval blockade against Iran indefinitely, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Thursday, adding that ships can be rotated in and out of the region as needed.

Hegseth's statement hinted that he suggested to President Donald Trump that the US military could continue to exert economic pressure on Iran as long as necessary to support negotiations to end the conflict that began in February but has so far been fruitless.

"The United States Navy can maintain such a blockade indefinitely because we will rotate ships in and out, as we have and will continue to do," Hegseth said, citing Al Arabiya from Reuters (14/8).

Earlier, President Trump on Wednesday declared the United States in control of the Strait of Hormuz.

"The US has full control over the Strait of Hormuz. I FEEL WE WILL DEFEND IT! Our naval blockade is called by everyone as the 'BAJA WALL', and there is nothing Iran can do to fight it," he wrote on the Truth Social platform.

After the war broke out - which was preceded by a US and Israeli attack on Iran on February 28 - Tehran effectively closed the strait, a route previously used by one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.

The US then imposed a naval blockade on Iranian shipping and ports, while stating that it would protect freedom of navigation for ships traveling to and from non-Iranian ports.

Washington has deployed tens of thousands of troops to the Middle East since the war began, including more than 20 warships.

Since the blockade was imposed, the US military has diverted more than 55 commercial vessels attempting to break through the blockade, including crippling three vessels and boarding two others.

Earlier this week, a US Navy MH-60 helicopter fired two Hellfire missiles into the engine room of a Panama-flagged ship after the ship ignored warnings from US forces, the military said.