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Tensions over military operations in the Middle East reached a sharp exchange during a Tuesday Senate hearing as Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) repeatedly pressed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. John D. Caine regarding the security of the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
The questioning comes amid heightened military actions between the U.S. and Iran, marked by days of U.S. strikes and continued Iranian targets on maritime traffic in the vital shipping lane.
During the hearing, Kennedy questioned Caine on whether Iranian forces would begin charging vessels to pass through the waterway if current military blockades were lifted.
“Will they put tolls on the Strait?” Kennedy asked.
Caine declined to speculate on future actions, responding, “I don’t know, sir. That’s a decision that’s a hypothetical and will depend on what happens in the future.”
Kennedy disputed the general’s characterization, framing the operational landscape as an active effort to prevent immediate threats. “It’s not hypothetical. We’ve got a blockade to stop them,” Kennedy said, later adding that the geopolitical stakes were “as serious as four heart attacks and a stroke” while asking about potential conditions for ending the U.S. blockade.
“Iran has the potential to continue to be a threat and we’re going to we will need to prepare a little bit,” Caine said before being interrupted by the senator, who reiterated his question on whether Iran would toll the Strait. Caine again categorized the scenario as a hypothetical.
“Oh, it’s not hypothetical. We come home, it’s not going to be hypothetical. You know that, general, and I do too,” Kennedy replied. “And I appreciate your discretion, but we’re down to it. We need some hard answers and some straight talk.”
Kennedy then directed similar lines of inquiry to Hegseth, asking what would happen if U.S. forces adjusted their presence in the region.
“Senator, I would agree with the chairman,” Hegseth said. “The likely outcome is they would try to impose their will on the on the waterways in ways that the world would not like.”
When asked directly if that included charging tolls, Hegseth acknowledged that Tehran would seek control over the passage. “Call it a toll, call it a fee, call it an exchange, call it control. They would do something that would try to hold that issue, yes, sir,” Hegseth said.
The conversation then shifted to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, with Kennedy asking if Iran would restart warhead development. Hegseth cited past decisions by President Donald Trump following military operations, stating that Iran’s leadership “didn’t give up their ambitions even though their nuclear sites had been obliterated,” describing the government as “hell-bent on nuclear ambitions.”
Kennedy cut in to request direct assessments regarding subterranean military targets, specifically asking whether the U.S. military possesses the capability to destroy deeply buried facilities such as those under Pickaxe Mountain.
“Senator, a lot of our capabilities are classified,” Hegseth answered. “But if anybody in the world can reach anything on God’s green Earth, it’s the United States military, the most powerful military in the world. It’s all about options and trade-offs.”
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