Hegseth Warns Iran Will Never Get a Nuclear Weapon as US Holds Hormuz
Defense secretary says Trump is ‘hell-bent’ on blocking a bomb and claims Washington controls the strait
2 min read
File photo: Official portrait of US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Photo: U.S. Department of Defense / Chad J. McNeeley, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Hegseth also claimed the United States, not Iran, controls the Strait of Hormuz and that Washington’s naval blockade of Iranian ports remains tight. “Iran wants to play games with things like the Strait of Hormuz. They don’t control it. We do,” he said, according to The Jerusalem Post. “Our blockade has been ironclad, and we’re running almost at pre-war levels every single night through that.”
Hegseth argued Iran’s navy, fast boats and air force had been so degraded that Tehran could no longer effectively challenge US dominance of the waterway, The Jerusalem Post said. Al Arabiya-linked coverage likewise attributed to him claims that US pilots control the strait’s airspace.
Trump echoes nuclear red line
Earlier Saturday, President Trump told reporters that Iran has been “decimated” and has “virtually given up” nuclear plans, while warning the next step could come the “easy way or the hard way,” Fox News Digital reported. “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said before departing for midterm campaign events in Ohio.
What comes next
Diplomacy over reopening Hormuz remains stalled. Hegseth said Trump has “given Iran every opportunity” to settle at the table and that if Tehran does not “make the right choice,” the president will have “all the options he needs on the table,” The Jerusalem Post reported.
