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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called the U.S. war in Iran a “gift to the world” on Friday.
Watch the full news conference in the video player above.
Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon, Hegseth said the U.S. blockade of Iranian shipping will continue “as long as it takes” to accomplish America’s “bold and dangerous” mission to end Iran’s threat to global security.
READ MORE: Top Iran diplomat set to travel to Pakistan for talks on ceasefire with U.S.
U.S. officials say that so far the blockade has turned back 34 ships, but ship-tracking data shows Iran has still been to move some of its sanctioned oil.
Lloyd’s List Intelligence said “a steady flow of shadow fleet traffic” has passed in and out of the Persian Gulf, including 11 tankers with Iranian cargo that have left the Gulf of Oman outside the strait since April 13.
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The maritime intelligence firm Windward said this week that Iranian traffic continues to flow “via deception.”
WATCH: Trump says he won’t use nuclear weapons in Iran
Iranians are able to evade the blockade by faking tracking data and by traveling through Pakistani territorial waters.
The U.S. secretary of defense suggested traditional U.S. allies in Europe are “free-riding” and being disloyal by not using their own forces to open the Strait of Hormuz that’s been closed because of President Donald Trump’s Iran war.
“We are not counting on Europe, but they need the Strait of Hormuz much more than we do,” Hegseth insisted. He mocked a recent European confab, saying U.S. allies “might want to start doing less talking” instead of holding “a fancy conference” and “a silly conference.”
Iran’s maneuver to choke off the strait has disrupted global energy supplies — especially in Europe, where many leaders remain frustrated. French President Emmanuel Macron said at one point that the U.S. can’t complain about a lack of support “in an operation they chose to undertake alone.”
Hegseth’s broadsides echo Trump’s swipes that other nations should “Go get your own oil!” and “start learning how to fight for yourself.”
The crews of all three merchant vessels seized by the U.S. military over the past week are still in U.S. custody, Gen. Dan Caine said at a briefing Friday.
“We will continue to conduct similar maritime interdiction actions and activities in the Pacific and Indian Oceans against Iranian ships and vessels of the Dark Fleet,” Caine said.
Caine also said the crew of the Tousca, the first merchant ship seized by U.S. forces Sunday, “repeatedly ignored U.S. warnings” over a six-hour period. Caine said this behavior prompted the crew of the Navy destroyer following the ship to fire five warning shots.
“The vessel and her crew continued to ignore warnings and, after exhausting all other measures, CENTCOM authorized disabling fire against the Tousca,” Caine said. Then, according to Caine, the destroyer disabled the ship’s engine by firing nine inert rounds from the destroyer’s 5-inch guns “precisely into the engine room and engine space on board the Tousca.”
“Not surprisingly, the vessel then reported issues with their engine, went dead in the water and began to comply with U.S. directions,” Caine added.
Hegseth told reporters at the Pentagon on Friday that the military is prepared to deal with any Iranian ships that “recklessly and irresponsibly” lay more mines.
But he said he wouldn’t speculate on reports that it will likely take six months to clear mines in the strait. The Associated Press reported that the Pentagon gave that timeline in a classified briefing to lawmakers this week.
Hegseth was responding to statements from President Trump who said Thursday that he has ordered the military to ” shoot and kill ” small Iranian boats deploying mines.
Hegseth said the U.S. is confident it can clear any mines it identifies “and would encourage other countries to be a part of such an effort as well.”
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