Hegseth says blockade on Iran is 'growing and going global'

[0:00] Hegseth says the U.S. has imposed an ironclad blockade that's growing more powerful by the day. [0:05] He says the U.S. has turned around at least 34 Iranian ships, but other international ships are allowed to pass through. [0:11] But he says no one sails through the Strait of Hormuz without the U.S. Navy's permission. [0:15] He's also calling on America's allies to support the U.S. military's efforts, saying it's much more their fight than ours. [0:23] And Hegseth is reiterating President Trump's claim that we have all the time in the world to make a deal with Iran. [0:28] Meanwhile, General Cain laid out the circumstances around the U.S. seizing ships in Iran's so-called Dark Fleet. [0:34] ABC News contributor, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East, Mick Mulroy is here for more on that. [0:40] Hi, Mick. So how do ship seizures like this work? [0:45] So, Diane, all these ships they're talking about have been sanctioned by the U.S. government. [0:50] So the Department of Justice, as the chairman mentioned, is the one that's actually instructing the U.S. military to carry out its orders to seize its sanctioned ship. [1:00] So how it works militarily, of course, they have to track it. [1:03] That's why the chairman was focused so much on the intelligence that goes into finding these ships, understanding exactly what ship it is, and confirming that it is, in fact, sanctioned. [1:14] And then the tactical intelligence that puts our forces – it's a very big ocean, of course – puts our forces in the path of that ship. [1:22] Then they hail them, meaning they call out to them and tell them they are being essentially stopped by the U.S. under a court order as a sanctioned ship. [1:34] If they do not – and they've mentioned that they – in some cases they hailed them for six hours – comply, then they move toward taking direct action. [1:43] And usually that direct action starts with disabling the propulsion system of the ship. [1:49] He talked about firing inert rounds into the engine room. [1:52] That's so they don't actually destroy the ship or injure the crew unnecessarily. [1:57] It's essentially just large bricks flying into the engine to stop it. [2:01] And then there will also be some kind of boarding crew and a control element that takes the ship into safe harbor and puts all of the crew, the cargo, and the ship itself under their control. [2:13] So it's a very complicated military operation as far as it's at sea, it's a moving ship, it's helicopters. [2:22] But it can be done rather routinely. [2:24] And now that we're going to have two marine expeditionary units, and I'm sure we have several special operations elements, we can do this in a more extended, wide means. [2:37] And we're also seeing now this is global. [2:39] So this is everywhere. [2:40] It's in the Indian Ocean, as the chairman was talking about. [2:42] So it's now a global blockade and all things connected to Iran, which really puts pressure on the regime. [2:49] What kind of pressure is the blockade putting on Iran? [2:56] So Iran gets most of its funding through the sale of its energy, and most of the sale of its energy is transported by maritime means, meaning we can essentially cut off their ability to resource their operations. [3:12] That's substantial. [3:13] It's also a blockade on items going to Iran. [3:17] So some of the ships that we've seen and talked about the boarding, they were going from China to Iran, Bandar Abbas, it's a port in Iran, to deliver goods. [3:27] So that's also going to put pressure on Iran. [3:30] They can't sell things. [3:31] The question is, can they take the economic pressure longer than the U.S. could take the political pressure? [3:40] And that's why the president's talking about the fact that he doesn't believe he's under pressure, because he realizes that Iran thinks they have a leverage point in that regard. [3:49] Hextheth says the U.S. is prepared to shoot and kill any fast boats laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz. [3:56] What goes into that kind of operation? [3:58] How easy is it for us to do that? [4:01] So it's easy if we can see these small craft moving. [4:09] They hide. [4:10] There's hundreds, if not thousands of them. [4:12] They hide on the coastline. [4:14] So it's not easy from the intelligence perspective. [4:17] But once we've identified the boat, then we can move really fast-moving aircraft in. [4:22] One of the reasons why the A-10, for example, is out there, it's an aircraft that's very capable of very close-in combat, to be able to take these ships out. [4:33] Because essentially, they're putting in lethal munitions intended to attach and destroy and potentially sink and kill the crew of commercial vessels. [4:43] So they are in the process of a lethal action. [4:46] And that's why I think it's very clear that that is part of the U.S. military's mission. [4:54] They cannot be allowed to do this. [4:55] We've already seen that just by the mines they've set out already, we're looking at six months after the war is over to potentially clear the Strait completely. [5:06] So it's important that no more mines are put out there. [5:09] And that's why I think the U.S. military is focused on that. [5:13] All right. [5:13] Mick Mulroy, always great to have your analysis. [5:15] Thank you.