The United States said Thursday it could sustain a naval blockade of Iran indefinitely while stepping up economic pressure on Tehran as ceasefire talks stall, global oil supplies tighten and tensions across the region escalate.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the U.S. military has the capacity to sustain a naval presence in the region to enforce the blockade, which has already inflicted severe economic damage on Iran.
“The United States Navy can maintain a blockade like that indefinitely because we’ll rotate ships in and out, as we have, and we’ll continue to,” Hegseth told reporters during a trip to Panama.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent separately said Thursday that Washington planned to further increase financial pressure on Iran as part of its broader effort to weaken Tehran’s economy.
“Watch this space for more announcements coming next week because we are going to apply measures like have never been seen in the history of economic isolation on a country,” he said in an interview on Newsmax’s “Rob Schmitt Tonight” program.
