Donald Trump is sending another aircraft carrier to the Middle East to reinforce his naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz as the Iranian regime mocks his ‘meaningless’ ceasefire.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth made the announcement during a press briefing in the Pentagon on Friday morning.
‘Not only is the blockade growing, in fact, a second aircraft carrier will join the blockade in just a few days, but this growing blockade has also gone global.’
Hegseth said the ‘ironclad’ blockade will remain in effect, warning that ‘every ship’ entering or leaving Iranian ports will be prevented from passing through the strait.
‘To the regime in Tehran, the blockade is tightening by the hour, we are in control. Nothing in nothing out,’ he continued. ‘They don’t control anything. They’re acting like pirates, acting like terrorists.’
The USS George H.W. Bush joined the blockade on Thursday as the number of American aircraft carriers deployed to the Middle East – now three – reaches its highest level in two decades.
Trump’s build-up of his naval blockade comes after he refused to give a timeline for his ceasefire with Iran after extending it earlier this week.
The Bush carrier is among the newest ships of its size in the U.S. fleet, stretching more than 1,000 feet, displacing over 100,000 tons, and powered by two nuclear reactors, with a crew of roughly 5,500 aboard.
Trump’s latest move comes after Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed proxy in Lebanon, dismissed the President’s announcement of a three-week extension of the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire as ‘meaningless.’
After Iran walked away from peace talks in Pakistan, Trump imposed the blockade to pressure Tehran economically and force its leaders back to the negotiating table.
Trump is sending a third aircraft carrier to reinforce his naval blockade Strait of Hormuz as the Iranian regime mocks his ‘meaningless’ ceasefire
The USS George H.W. Bush joined the blockade on Thursday as the number of American warships deployed to the Middle East reaches its highest level in two decades
Hegseth said the ‘ironclad’ blockade will remain in effect, warning that ‘every ship’ entering or leaving Iranian ports will be prevented from passing through the strait
Trump imposed the blockade to pressure Tehran economically and force its leaders back to the negotiating table
Since the war began, Iran has struck back at the US and Gulf states by seeding the Strait of Hormuz with sea mines, throttling a waterway that carries one-fifth of the world’s oil.
The regime has also deployed swarms of fast attack boats to raid and seize oil tankers.
Iran had retaliated against Trump’s naval blockade of Hormuz on Wednesday by attacking three oil tankers and seizing two vessels.
Iran’s state media released a video showing masked commandos boarding two cargo ships.
Masked fighters are seen racing toward the MSC-Francesca ship by using a gunboat before climbing its hull with rifles strapped to their backs.
The escalating standoff has effectively shut down the Strait of Hormuz, sending global oil prices skyrocketing as US gas prices surpass $4 a gallon on average nationwide.
Tensions escalated again on Thursday when the US navy hit back at Iran for seizing two oil tankers in Hormuz.
US forces on Thursday seized a tanker caught smuggling the regime’s oil in the Indian Ocean.
Iran seized two cargo ships on Wednesday morning after attacking them as well as a third in the Strait of Hormuz, accusing the vessels of being ‘non-compliant’ with the regime’s demands
Trump has further inflamed tensions by imposing a naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, sending oil and gas prices skyrocketing
‘To the regime in Tehran, the blockade is tightening by the hour, we are in control. Nothing in nothing out,’ Hegseth said
The Pentagon released videos of US naval forces boarding the Iranian-linked oil tanker, Majestic X, in the Indian Ocean. The ship was reportedly carrying oil produced by the Iranian regime.
‘We will continue global maritime enforcement to disrupt illicit networks and interdict vessels providing material support to Iran, wherever they operate,’ the Pentagon wrote on X.
The Pentagon warned that sanctioned actors cannot use international waters as cover, vowing to keep blocking ‘illicit actors and their vessels’ from operating freely at sea.
