U.S. will hold blockade as long as it needs to – One America News Network

August 13, 2026 Sophia Flores US 0

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth salutes from the U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Gridley during the multinational Panamax 2026 military exercise in Panama City, on August 13, 2026. (Photo by MARTIN BERNETTI / AFP via Getty Images) — U.S. War Secretary Pete Hegseth salutes from the U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Gridley during the multinational Panamax 2026 military exercise in Panama City, on August 13, 2026. (Photo by MARTIN BERNETTI / AFP via Getty Images)

OAN Staff Taylor Tinsley
3:00 PM – Thursday, August 13, 2026

War Secretary Pete Hegseth has touted the “wall of steel,” emphasizing that the U.S.’s ironclad blockade has ensured control over the Strait of Hormuz.

While speaking to reporters in front of the USS Gridley in Panama on Thursday, Hegseth stated that President Donald Trump has all the options to ensure Iran never has a nuclear weapon.

“The president has all the options at his disposal and will ensure, as we have from the beginning, that a maniacal regime like Iran never has a nuclear weapon,” Hegseth explained. “They can’t. He’s committed to that. And, they won’t.”

He added that recent reports from Democrats in Washington D.C. over the condition of marines aboard the USS Lincoln are completely misrepresented.

“We make sure that every ship, every crew, every captain has everything we can provide them at every single moment,” the war secretary stated. “Some deployments are longer than others, and I have more respect and gratitude for those sailors than anybody. What they do in those high seas and those austere conditions with less port calls, it’s incredible. And Americans don’t understand what it’s like to do that.”

“So, as someone who’s not been on a ship like that, but been on long deployments, I feel it,” he continued. “I want them home as soon as everybody else, too. I want folks rotated as quickly as possible. I want the best for them; my commanders know that, our service secretaries know that, the president expects that.”

Hegseth said they’ve held the line for the country, adding they’ve done a fantastic job.

“To that crew and to all those crews, we’re going to do everything we can for you,” he promised. “We are so grateful for their dedication of that crew and others. They’ve held the line for the country; they’ve done a fantastic job.”

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