US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has characterised the ongoing conflict in Iran as “a gift to the world”, asserting that the American blockade of Iranian maritime traffic will persist “long as it takes”.Addressing journalists at the Pentagon on Friday, Hegseth said the naval restrictions were essential to fulfilling what he described as a “bold and dangerous” mission aimed at neutralising Iran’s perceived threat to international stability.While American officials maintained that the blockade has successfully intercepted 34 vessels, maritime monitoring data indicates that Tehran continues to circumvent these measures to export sanctioned oil. According to Lloyd’s List Intelligence, “a steady flow of shadow fleet traffic” has been observed moving through the Persian Gulf. This includes 11 tankers carrying Iranian cargo that reportedly departed from the Gulf of Oman, outside the strait, since April 13.In response to the American stance, Iranian state broadcaster Press TV quoted Defence Ministry spokesperson Brigadier General Reza Talaei-Nik, who warned that “a significant portion of our missile capability has not been used”.The General claimed that the armed forces had “full control over the skies of the occupied territories” until the moments leading up to the ceasefire.