Hegseth: US Blockade of Iran Can Last ‘Indefinitely’

KEMETIC MINDS — BREAKING NEWS
August 14, 2026

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday that the US Navy can sustain its blockade of Iranian ports “indefinitely,” as ceasefire talks between the two countries remain in deadlock and US lawmakers raise concerns about conditions aboard the flagship aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (Al Jazeera, 2026).

Key Facts

• Hegseth, speaking to reporters during a trip to Panama, said the military will “rotate ships in and out” to maintain the naval presence enforcing the blockade “indefinitely” (Al Jazeera, 2026).
• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US will announce new economic measures next week, describing “a combination of economic isolation the world has never seen before, and the continued blockade in the Strait of Hormuz that will keep anything from going in or out of the Iranian ports” (Al Jazeera, 2026).
• Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority said Wednesday that the Strait of Hormuz “remains blocked and will not be reopened until Iran’s conditions are accepted,” disputing President Donald Trump’s claim that the US has “full control” of the waterway (Al Jazeera, 2026).
• Only a handful of ships have been able to pass through the Strait of Hormuz this week, according to the report (Al Jazeera, 2026).
• US lawmakers raised alarms this week over reports of dire conditions on board the USS Abraham Lincoln, including accounts of sailors trying to jump overboard (Al Jazeera, 2026).

Blockade and Economic Pressure

Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz in early March, shortly after the start of the war, the report states. Despite Trump’s assertions of “full control” of the vital waterway, the Persian Gulf Strait Authority pushed back in a post on X on Wednesday: “Claims and repeated posts by US officials that the Strait of Hormuz is no longer blocked do not change the reality” (Al Jazeera, 2026).

Hegseth said Thursday during a trip to Panama: “Indefinitely, the United States Navy can maintain a blockade like that because we’ll rotate ships in and out, as we have, and we’ll continue to” (Al Jazeera, 2026).

Bessent, speaking in an interview on Newsmax, said: “Watch this space for more announcements coming next week because we are going to apply measures that have never been seen in the history of economic isolation on a country.” He said the measures would keep anything from going in or out of Iranian ports while the blockade continues (Al Jazeera, 2026).

Concerns on the USS Abraham Lincoln

The USS Abraham Lincoln, the US flagship aircraft carrier, is conducting maritime security and blockade operations around the Strait of Hormuz (Al Jazeera, 2026). Reports by two US publications covering conditions on board prompted lawmakers to raise the alarm this week, including accounts of sailors attempting to jump overboard (Al Jazeera, 2026).

What’s Still Unconfirmed

The accounts of sailors attempting to jump overboard are attributed by the source to two US publications and to warnings raised by US lawmakers; the source does not independently verify those accounts, and the specific findings of the two publications are not detailed in the source article (Al Jazeera, 2026).

References

1. Al Jazeera. (2026, August 14). US threatens ‘indefinite’ blockade against Iran: How long can it last?. aljazeera.com