According to a video on Fox News, on Tuesday May 11, 2026, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth made a bold claim about the outcome of American military operations against Iran, telling senators that the entirety of Iran’s conventional naval force had been destroyed during Operation Epic Fury and that the Iranian military lacked the capacity to break the United States naval blockade currently in place in the region.
The statement came during the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on the administration’s proposed 1.5 trillion dollar fiscal year 2027 defense budget.
The exchange arose during questioning from Senator Hovind, who asked whether there was a way to secure the Strait of Hormuz before the conflict with Iran was fully resolved.
The strait remained a central point of tension, with commercial shipping disrupted and energy markets under significant pressure due to Iran’s use of fast boats and drone assets to harass vessels attempting transit.
Hovind argued that maintaining the naval blockade while simultaneously securing passage for commercial traffic could create conditions that would force Iran toward a resolution favorable to the United States.
Hegseth used the opportunity to push back against what he viewed as an overly pessimistic reading of the military situation.
He argued that the blockade was working as intended, that Iranian ports were effectively sealed, and that the economic pressure being applied to Tehran was severe.
He noted that more than 65 ships had been turned away or disabled and that the economic damage to Iran greatly exceeded any corresponding pressure on the United States, which he said relied on the strait far less than the rest of the world.
In his words, Secretary Hegseth said, “I think it creates a lot of dynamics for future energy dominance for the United States. We have a range of options to ensure that transit were to continue should the president or others want us to go in that direction.
“But ultimately, we control the strait because nothing is going in that we do not allow to go in. And trust me, when we look at what Iran is thinking about that, they know they cannot break it. The entirety of Iran’s conventional navy is at the bottom of the sea,” he said, making one of his most forceful claims of the hearing.
Several senators, including Senator Murphy and Senator Durbin, challenged this assessment, noting that Iran continued to use fast boats and drone assets to threaten commercial shipping and that the strait remained effectively closed to civilian traffic. They questioned whether the claim of total control was consistent with the daily reality faced by tanker operators and energy markets around the world….See More
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