Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters that the U.S. military has the capability to maintain a naval presence in the region to enforce its blockade of Iran, which has inflicted severe economic damage on the country.
President Donald Trump on Monday said Iran would "pay" for killing U.S. soldiers after multiple service members were killed over the weekend as part of the United States' war against Iran.
Recent waves of U.S. strikes on Iran aimed at forcing open the Strait of Hormuz are also targeting Iranian military capabilities the U.S. would want to destroy before executing more complex operations against Iran, three U.S. officials said.
The U.S. Air Force said on Thursday it would investigate a uniformed officer who called for the impeachment of President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance during a protest event on the steps of the Capitol.
Iran fired on a cargo ship that had reported earlier on Thursday being hit by a projectile as it attempted to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, two U.S. officials told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The United States said on Friday it expected an Iranian response as soon as later in the day to its latest proposal to end the war in the Gulf, even as U.S. and Iranian forces clashed in the Gulf and the United Arab Emirates came under renewed attack.
The United States and Iran are edging toward a limited, temporary agreement to halt their war, sources and officials said, with a draft framework that would stop the fighting but leave the most contentious issues unresolved.
The drawdown would bring U.S. troop levels in Europe back to roughly pre-2022 levels, before Russia's invasion of Ukraine triggered a buildup by then-President Joe Biden.
The United States' war in Iran has cost $25 billion so far, a senior Pentagon official said on Wednesday, providing the first official estimate of the military's price tag for the conflict.
The top U.S. general said on Wednesday U.S. troops stood ready to resume fighting if Tehran failed to strike a negotiated settlement as the Trump administration sought to portray the war as a decisive victory against Iran.
