WASHINGTON–TEHRAN, August 14. /Dunyo IA/. The United States has announced its readiness to maintain a naval blockade of Iran indefinitely and to step up economic pressure on Tehran, reports Dunyo IA correspondent.

According to Reuters, U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said that the U.S. Navy is capable of maintaining the blockade indefinitely by rotating ships. “The United States Navy can maintain such a blockade indefinitely because we will rotate ships and continue to do so”, he said.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that Washington is preparing new measures against Iran. According to him, actions that will exert unprecedented financial pressure on Tehran will be announced as early as next week.

Against this backdrop, Iran said it “continues to control” the Strait of Hormuz, adding that commercial vessels would not be able to safely transit the strait without the permission and control of the country’s armed forces.

U.S. President Donald Trump, by contrast, maintains that Washington “has total control” over the Strait of Hormuz and describes the U.S. blockade as a “wall of steel.” Iran has rejected these statements. On August 12, only eight vessels transited the strait, compared with 130–140 vessels before the war.

Two vessels operated by the UAE state-owned oil company “ADNOC” were attacked yesterday. The UAE authorities described the incident as an attack by Iran.

Meanwhile, Tehran continues negotiations with Oman on establishing a new route through the Strait of Hormuz. However, no agreement has yet been reached. Iran stresses that even the opening of a new route would not be sufficient to restore shipping: Tehran is demanding that the United States lift sanctions and unblock frozen Iranian assets.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance identified two main objectives of the operation against Iran: preventing it from obtaining nuclear weapons and maintaining stable oil and gas prices for Americans.

The U.S. military presence in the region is also being reinforced. The aircraft carrier “USS George Washington” is heading from the Pacific Ocean to the Middle East and is expected to replace the “USS Abraham Lincoln”, which has remained in the region for an extended period and has spent more than 260 consecutive days at sea. Problems with supplies and mail delivery reportedly arose aboard the vessel, prompting U.S. lawmakers to call for an inspection of the crew’s working and service conditions.

Photo by “AFP” agency