Hegseth Calls the Hormuz Blockade 'Ironclad' While Iran Says There Is No Military Solution

Seven months into the war with Iran, the argument over who controls the Strait of Hormuz hardened again at the weekend. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters that the American blockade is "ironclad." Middle East Eye, citing an AP report, quoted him as saying: "Iran wants to play games with things like the Strait of Hormuz. They don't control it, we do." He added that Iran had "literally gotten nothing through."

Camp David, then the warning

Hegseth spoke after senior officials met at Camp David on Friday. CBS News's live coverage and Middle East Eye list Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the special envoy Steve Witkoff, the CIA director John Ratcliffe and the Joint Chiefs chairman, General Dan Caine among those present, with Iran and the fighting in Yemen on the agenda. "Iran ought make the right choice," Hegseth said. "If they don't, the president is going to have all the options he needs on the table." On Saturday Donald Trump told reporters he had "a decision" to make about Iran, and that it would be "the easy way or the hard way."

Tehran's answer

Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, told a gathering of ambassadors on Sunday that "there is no military solution, nor any solution based on new sanctions," and that only "negotiations based on justice and fairness" could end the war. Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Washington's reply to Iran's conditions was being examined and that Tehran was also "preparing itself for any other possible scenario." A foreign ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baqaei, said reopening the strait would require an end to disruption of Iranian commercial shipping and the lifting of sanctions. This follows President Trump's rejection of Tehran's earlier proposal, and talks look stuck.

What the shipping data say

The picture at sea is less clear-cut than either side's rhetoric. CBS cited tracking firm Kpler as saying that Middle East crude exports excluding Iran passed their pre-war average of 18 million barrels a day on some days last week, helped by pipelines through Saudi Arabia and the UAE and routes via the Red Sea. Kpler put the share of oil now bypassing Hormuz at 40 percent. Experts stressed that the situation is far from normal: Iran still claims control of the strait, ships without its approval risk attack, and the US counter-blockade is cutting off a large share of Iran's own exports.

Prices and politics

Brent remains above $100 a barrel, up from about $73 before the war began on 28 February. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, on CBS's Face the Nation, said Trump knew the war would raise energy prices in the short run and that prices would fall "absolutely" over the next four weeks, a window that runs up to the midterm elections. The Group of Seven agreed on Friday to release 100 million barrels of oil and fuel products, led by a front-loaded diesel release over 20 days.

Two things now decide what happens next: whether Trump chooses the hard way he has hinted at, and whether Iran's conditions on sanctions move at all. Neither side has publicly given ground.