Hegseth, Caine face Senate grilling on Iran war as Hormuz blockade rattles oil markets
War Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine return to Capitol Hill as lawmakers reviewed the ongoing Iran conflict, the Pentagon’s proposed $1.5 trillion fiscal 2027 budget, rising oil prices and pressure around peace talks.
Gen. Dan Caine confirms Russian involvement in Iran war
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Russian President Vladimir Putin has aided Iran’s war effort.
He declined to go into details, citing the public nature of the hearing, but said, ”There’s definitely some action there.”
Committee Chairman Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., agreed.
“There’s no question that Vladimir Putin’s Russia is taking serious action to undermine our efforts for success in Iran,” Wicker said.
Wicker's opening statement warned about the "four dictatorships" aligned, including Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.
“Xi Jinping leads not only China, but also an axis of aggressors," Wicker said. "This growing alliance cannot be denied. It includes China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.
"These four dictatorships," he continued "support each other’s aggressive endeavors. They prop each other up financially, and they scheme to undermine America’s objectives.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Gillibrand tells Hegseth Americans ‘do not support this war’ in heated Senate exchange
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and War Secretary Pete Hegseth clashed Thursday during the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.
“It is an unauthorized war. Normally, when you come to Congress, it's a way for the American people to be part of that discussion. The American people, particularly in my state of New York, are upset for a lot of reasons,” she said.
She added that Americans are feeling the impact “every single day” and are “truly exhausted.”
Hegseth pushed back, arguing the administration has public support.
“When I talk to Americans, and especially when I talk to the troops, they are grateful for a president who has the courage to take on this threat,” he said.
“After 47 years of what Iran has done, targeting and killing Americans, and what it would mean to the world if Iran's nuclear ambitions were actually achieved. So the question I would ask to you and to others is, what is the cost of a nuclear-armed Iran?” Hesgeth asked.
Israel defense chief warns strikes on Iran could resume soon, signals campaign not over
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Thursday that Israel may soon resume military action against Iran, signaling that despite what he described as devastating setbacks to Tehran, Israel views the broader campaign as potentially unfinished.
Speaking at a ceremony promoting the incoming Israeli Air Force commander, Katz said Iran had been pushed "years backward" in the past year but suggested Israel may soon need to act again to secure long-term strategic goals.
"Iran has suffered extremely severe blows over the past year, blows that set it back years in every field," Katz said.
Still, Katz’s sharpest warning suggested that despite the current ceasefire, Israeli leaders do not see the confrontation with Iran as resolved.
Instead, his remarks mirror President Donald Trump’s insistence that pressure on Iran will continue until its capacity to rebuild is curtailed.
"The blockade stays until there’s a real deal," Trump said Thursday, according to Axios, signaling that Washington intends to maintain pressure until Iran addresses U.S. demands over its nuclear program and broader security concerns.
"We support this effort and provide the necessary backing, but it is possible that soon we will be required to act again to ensure the achievement of those goals," Katz said.
This is an excerpt from a report by Efrat Lachter.
Trump: Trying to ‘save’ Iran amid executions, blackout
President Trump said Thursday that he was trying to protect Iranians as the country faces executions and an ongoing internet blackout.
“I'm trying to save that country in a certain way,” the president said.
“They killed 42,000 innocent, not weapon-carrying people for protesting, 42,000, and the number they say is a lot higher than that,” he said.
“There's a rough group, but we have decimated them, and their economy is a disaster. So we'll see how long they hold.”
Trump also described how the situation was drawing global attention.
“Iran killed 42,000 people over the last few months, protesters, eight women whose lives I saved, and I appreciate that they didn't do it. I asked them not to do it. They didn't do it,” he said
Trump praises Iran port blockade, says Tehran 'wants to make a deal badly'
President Donald Trump, on Thursday, praised what he described as an “incredible” blockade of Iranian ports and claimed the regime is still eager to negotiate.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump first praised the impact of the blockade, saying it has severely limited Iran’s oil revenue.
“The blockade is incredible. The power of the blockade is incredible. They're not getting any money from oil, and hopefully it can be worked out very soon,” he said.
Pressed on Iran’s posture in ongoing tensions, Trump insisted that Tehran is seeking a deal, though he suggested uncertainty about who is in charge.
“Nobody knows what the talks are, except myself and a couple of other people,” he said. “They want to make a deal badly. We have a problem, because nobody knows for sure who the leaders are.”
Trump went on to claim that Iran’s leadership and military capabilities have been largely eliminated.
“The leaders have been wiped out, along with their military, almost all of their military,” he said.
He also asserted that Iran’s naval forces had been effectively destroyed.
“I mean, think of it, 159 ships was their total navy. Navy—159 ships are gone,” Trump said, adding that the fleet was now “underwater.”
“They're way below sea level,” he said.
IDF targets terrorist who posed as paramedic to plan attack on Israeli troops
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said Thursday it targeted a terrorist posing as a paramedic who was planning an imminent attack on its troops.
“Ibrahim Abu Tzakar, a terrorist operating under the cover of a paramedic,” the IDF said in a post shared on X.
“Abu Tzakar planned to carry out an imminent terror attack against IDF troops. He previously led and advanced attacks against the IDF and the State of Israel,” the force said.
“By using the cover of a paramedic, he endangered the lives of both soldiers and civilians,” the IDF added.
Obama’s top Iran negotiator torched by State Department after ripping Trump war plan
As the leader of President Barack Obama’s negotiating team on the nuclear agreement with Iran, Wendy Sherman launched a no-holds-barred attack on President Donald Trump’s Iran strategy over the weekend.
Sherman, who served as undersecretary of state for political affairs during the Obama administration and as deputy secretary of state under President Joe Biden, took aim at Trump’s Iran policy in recent interviews.
Sherman’s assault on the Trump administration’s war strategy in a Bloomberg News interview raised eyebrows because it comes at a time when the administration is inflicting enormous economic pressure on Tehran’s rulers via the U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
Having played a key role in sealing the widely criticized 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, which Trump withdrew from in 2018, she slammed Trump’s Iran plan in the Bloomberg interview.
"He doesn’t have a strategy. He’s very tactical [and] very transactional — as he was as a developer. In this case, I don’t think that approach will work."
She added, "He has cost our alliances, American taxpayers, 13 American lives, our inventory of weapons, our ability to project power abroad."
In response to her controversial comments, State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott strongly pushed back, telling Fox News Digital, "She was literally part of the team that handed the Iranian regime billions of dollars and a roadmap to a nuclear weapon. She has no credibility. If Iran develops a bomb, it should put her name on it."
This is an excerpt from a report by Benjamin Weinthal.
Ghalibaf signals Iran's strength in warning to the US
Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Ghalibaf issued a pointed warning to the United States Thursday, suggesting Tehran could leverage its control of the Strait of Hormuz to shape the region’s future free from American influence.
His remarks came on Persian Gulf Day, as Mojtaba Khamenei also said Tehran would secure the Gulf region and eliminate what he described as “the enemy’s abuses of the waterway.”
“In the year 1622 AD, after 115 years of occupation, we expelled the European colonizers from the Persian Gulf, and we celebrate Persian Gulf Day in honor of this victory,” Ghalibaf said in a post shared on X.
“Today as well, Iran, by exercising control over the Strait of Hormuz, will ensure that it and its neighbors enjoy the precious blessing of a future free from the presence and interference of America,” he added.
Iran president on blockade: 'Continuation of this oppressive approach is intolerable'
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is escalating Tehran’s rhetoric over the Strait of Hormuz standoff, accusing the U.S. of using the naval blockade to continue military pressure on Iran despite the ceasefire.
“The world has witnessed Iran’s tolerance and conciliation," he wrote Thursday on X. "What is being done under the guise of a naval blockade is an extension of military operations against a nation paying the price for its resistance and independence. Continuation of this oppressive approach is intolerable."
War Secretary Hegseth denies defense company investments, as claimed by Dem Sen. Warren
War Secretary Pete Hegseth fired back at Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., on claims he had invested in any defense manufacturers shortly ahead of the war with Iran.
“I’ll give it to you as a big fat negative,” Hegseth shot back.
Still, Warren pressed him on what limits are put in place at the Pentagon to prevent defense officials from profiting off of their knowledge of planned military actions.
“I’m not looking for money; I don’t do it for money,” Hegseth said. “I don’t do it for profit. I don’t do it for stocks. And that’s part of the reason why I’m able to be effective in this job. Because no one owns me.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
State Dept launching Maritime Freedom Construct for Strait of Hormuz blockade
The State Department is launching a new diplomatic initiative aimed at responding to the Strait of Hormuz blockade, creating what officials are calling the Maritime Freedom Construct (MFC) to help coordinate safe commercial transit and increase pressure on Iran.
The MFC will work to ensure safe passage through the waterway by providing real-time information, safety guidance and coordination for vessels operating in the region, according to a State official.
The effort will improve maritime domain awareness and support commercial shippers and their crews as the blockade continues to disrupt one of the world’s most critical energy routes.
The MFC will be based in Washington and serve as a diplomatic operations hub, bringing together partner governments and the commercial shipping industry.
Officials said it will also be used to coordinate diplomatic steps and align economic measures designed to impose costs on Iran for disrupting maritime security.
The coalition is meant to complement other maritime efforts already underway, including a planning initiative being led by the United Kingdom and France.
According to internal guidance, U.S. diplomats have also been directed to press foreign governments to join the coalition, which was ordered by President Donald Trump and is being led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The launch signals that the administration is trying to build a broader international response to the Hormuz crisis, using diplomacy and economic pressure alongside existing military and maritime efforts.
Fox News' Gillian Turner and Nick Kalman contributed to this report.
Hegseth, Dem senator clash over whether ceasefire impacts key Iran war timeline
The Trump administration is running up against a 60-day limit for the Iran war that is instituted by the War Powers Act of 1973, but War Secretary Pete Hegseth told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the ceasefire does not qualify.
The law requires that Congress must declare war or authorize the use of force, although it does provide for presidents to have a 30-day extension to draw down hostilities if it notifies Congress.
“We are in a ceasefire right now, which our understanding means the 60-day clock pauses or stops in a ceasefire,” Hegseth said at during Thursday's hearing.
The 60-day limit for the Iran war will be reached Friday, and the two-week ceasefire does not extend that deadline like Hegseth believes, according to Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.
“I do not believe the statute would support that,” Kaine responded, adding he had “serious constitutional concerns.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
War Secretary Hegseth rebukes Democrats' 'reckless naysayers,' 'defeatist words'
War Secretary Pete Hegseth pulled no punches on Democrats during his Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Thursday.
“As I said [Wednesday], and I’ll say it again today, the biggest adversary we face at this point are the reckless naysayers and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans,” Hegseth said in his opening statement to the Senate panel.
Defending President Donald Trump’s $1.5 trillion budget request, Hegseth said the president “inherited a defense industrial base that had been hollowed out by years of America last policies, resulting in a diminished capacity to project strength.”
Similar to his Wednesday Congress remarks to the House Armed Services Committee , Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said it was his duty “to ensure our civilian leadership has a comprehensive range of military options and the associated risks required to make the nation’s hardest and most complex decisions.”
Code Pink protesters removed from Hegseth's Senate Armed Services Committee hearing
Code Pink protesters were removed from War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Thursday after disrupting the proceedings and shouting accusations at the Pentagon chief.
At least one protester called Hegseth a “war criminal” before security moved in and escorted demonstrators out of the hearing room.
The interruption briefly rattled the hearing as lawmakers prepared to question Hegseth on the administration’s military strategy and defense priorities.
IDF's Israel Katz signaling Israel may soon resume military action against Iran
Israel’s defense minister Israel Katz said Thursday that Iran has been pushed back “years” by recent blows but warned that Israel might soon need to carry out further military action to ensure Tehran no longer poses a threat.
President Donald Trump's desire to continue to pursue diplomacy needs to be weighed against Iran's desire to rebuild its war capabilities, Katz said at a ceremony Thursday.
“We support this effort and are providing the necessary backing, but it is possible that we will soon be required to act again to ensure the objectives are achieved,” Katz said.
President Donald Trump, in coordination with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is leading an effort to complete the campaign’s objectives so Iran will not again pose a threat to Israel, the United States or the “free world,” according to Katz.
"The State of Israel will not allow its enemies to threaten its existence," Katz said. "We will continue to act with determination, strength, and responsibility to ensure the security of Israel’s citizens for generations."
Fox News' Yonat Friling contributed to this report.
White House official warns against 'usurping the commander in chief's authority' on Iran
The White House is pushing back on criticism that the Trump administration sidelined Congress as it launched military action against Iran, arguing lawmakers were kept informed before and after Operation Epic Fury began.
"President [Donald] Trump has been transparent with the Hill since before Operation Epic Fury began, and administration officials provided over 30 bipartisan briefings for Members of Congress to keep them apprised of military updates," White House principal deputy press secretary Anna Kelly told Fox News in a statement Thursday.
"The president's preference is always diplomacy, and Iran wants to make a deal."
The administration is in active conversations with the Hill on the authorization of military force on Iran, a source told Fox News.
"Members of Congress who try to score political points by usurping the commander in chief's authority would only undermine the United States Military abroad, which no elected official should want to do," the source said.
The news comes as Pentagon leaders are testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday.
Fox News' Patrick Ward contributed to this report.
GOP Rep. Tim Burchett: Raised oil prices are 'gouging,' 'ripping America off'
Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., is accusing oil companies of exploiting consumers as fuel costs climb, calling the latest price increases “gouging” and saying Americans are being “ripped off.”
"They're just gouging this and I blame Congress, because every day come time we do this, 'Oh, we're going to bring the oil executives down here and they shake the money tree,'" Burchett told reporters Thursday on Capitol Hill.
"And every time I say this my contribution from the oil distributors goes down, but I don't care. I'm over it.
"They are ripping America off.
"We've got to do something better."
Burchett argued the price spikes are driven less by normal market forces than by corporate greed.
"It is not capitalism," Burchett continued. "Quit telling me that, 'Oh, it's a commodity virtue, you understand it.'
"But we don't prop up every other other commodity with billions of dollars in offsets and rebates and all this garbage we give these oil companies.
"And so I'm over it to keep prices low."
President Donald Trump is trying to keep prices low, Burchett added.
Gas stations raising prices on the speculation that global oil supply will be strained by the Strait of Hormuz blockade, he said.
"He's tried, but you know, what are you going to do about the greed," Burchett said. "They're gonna show record profits. They'll show record profits, and we'll move on to the next shiny object."
Fox News' Krista Garvin contributed to this report.
Trump warns Germany's Merz: Stop 'interfering' with 'getting rid of the Iran nuclear threat'
President Donald Trump has renewed his warnings on German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, as he has threatened to draw down U.S. troops in that country that are deployed for NATO defense.
Stop "interfering with those that are getting rid of the Iran Nuclear threat," Trump warned Thursday.
"The Chancellor of Germany should spend more time on ending the war with Russia/Ukraine (Where he has been totally ineffective!), and fixing his broken Country, especially Immigration and Energy, and less time on interfering with those that are getting rid of the Iran Nuclear threat, thereby making the World, including Germany, a safer place!" his Truth Social post read.
CENTCOM commander Cooper to brief White House on Iran options, Strait of Hormuz
Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of U.S. Central Command, is expected at the White House later Thursday for briefings on Iran and the Strait of Hormuz as the ceasefire deadlines loom.
Cooper will meet with President Donald Trump and his national security team on the Strait of Hormuz blockade and other issues, according to sources.
Despite reports, Cooper is not going to the White House to brief the president on options to hit infrastructure or target Iran’s nuclear program, but those options have already been presented in past briefings.
Trump has held has options amid the tentative ceasefire and could order CENTCOM to carry out an array of actions, but this week's meeting do not mean there is an decision coming on whether to restart military strikes against Iran.
Cooper is also scheduled to meet with lawmakers as Pentagon leaders testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee, according to details confirmed by Fox News.
Cooper has been on the Hill for several days for closed door meetings with lawmakers, according to well-placed sources.
CENTCOM has already been central to blockade enforcement and operations in and around the strait.
Fox News' National Security Correspondent Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report.
Red Cross: Return to active war would be 'catastrophic for millions' of Iranian civilians
The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross warned Thursday that any return to full-scale war in Iran would be devastating for millions of Iranian civilians already battered by weeks of fighting.
“Six weeks of hostilities have pulled Iran and the wider Middle East into patterns of warfare that have proved devastating for civilians and the infrastructure they rely on to survive,” ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric said after a visit to Iran. "Any return to a conflict of such intensity and scale will be catastrophic for millions."
Spoljaric urged a continuation of the ceasefire and a diplomatic resolution, the latter of which President Donald Trump has maintained is only reachable with Iran giving up its longtime nuclear weapons aspirations.
“The ceasefire has widened the window to scale up humanitarian assistance," Spoljaric added. "We hope that this opportunity can be used to meet the needs of millions across the region who have suffered from hostilities.
"The humanitarian cost of a region at war is not one the world can absorb. Millions of lives depend on the political will to respect international humanitarian law and ensure the protection of civilians.
“A durable ceasefire, followed by a political solution, has to start by upholding humanity in war along with a collective commitment to de-escalate.”
Iran supreme leader statement: Only place for US in Persian Gulf is 'bottom of its waters'
The supreme leader of Iran, despite questions of his health and active hold on the country in crisis, is signaling no retreat on the country’s core military programs even as President Donald Trump seeks peace.
Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, while reportedly in questionable health, issued a Persian Gulf Day statement online, vowing the Islamic Republic would protect its “nuclear and missile capabilities” and drawing a hard line as tensions remain high over the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s confrontation with the U.S.
Khamenei also escalated his rhetoric against Washington, saying the only place for the American military in the Persian Gulf is “at the bottom of its waters.”
"By God's help and power, the bright future of the Persian Gulf region will be a future without America, one serving the progress, comfort and prosperity of its people," a translation of the statement read.
"We and our neighbors across the waters of the Persian Gulf and the (Gulf) of Oman share a common destiny. Foreigners who come from thousands of kilometers away to act with greed and malice there have no place in it – except at the bottom of its waters."
He cast the U.S. as an outside power with no legitimate role in the region and said the Gulf’s future should be “without America.”
"Two months after the world's biggest military campaign and aggression in the region and America's shameful failure in its plan, a new chapter is dawning in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz," the statement read.
Among the strongest quotes from the Iranian leader, as translated:
– “The foreigners who greedily commit evil in it from thousands of kilometers away have no place in it except in the depths of its waters.”
– “Ninety million brave and honorable Iranian compatriots … consider all the capacities of identity, spirituality, humanity, science, industry and basic and new technologies — from nano and bio to nuclear and missile — as their national capital and will guard them like water, land and air borders.”
– “With practical gratitude for the blessing of implementing management of the Strait of Hormuz, Islamic Iran will secure the Persian Gulf region and eliminate the hostile enemy's abuses of this waterway.”
President Donald Trump's Strait of Hormuz blockade is turning a military standoff into an economic shock for markets.
Brent crude briefly climbed above $126 a barrel overnight Thursday — its highest level since 2022 — before pulling back to about $116, while average U.S. gasoline prices rose to $4.30 a gallon, also a nearly four-year high.
The spike reflects mounting concern that the disruption could drag on as Washington weighs keeping the blockade in place and considers additional military options.
"Any attempt to impose a maritime blockade or restrictions is contrary to international law," Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a statement, adding that it "is doomed to fail.”
The closure of Iran's oil shipping out of the strait will “not only fail to enhance regional security, but are in fact a source of tension and a disruption to lasting stability in the Persian Gulf,” he added.
About 20 million barrels a day of crude and oil products moved through the strait on average in 2025, making it one of the world’s most critical oil chokepoints.
US considers deploying 'dark eagle' hypersonic missile to Middle East: report
The U.S. Army’s Dark Eagle hypersonic missile could be deployed to the Middle East for potential use against Iran, according to reports.
Citing a source Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has requested the long-delayed system to target ballistic missile launchers deep inside the country.
The hypersonic missile is behind schedule and has not been declared fully operational, even as Russia and China have fielded similar systems, the report said.
The request for forces submission argues the move is necessary because Iran has shifted its launchers beyond the reach of the Precision Strike Missile, which can strike targets more than 300 miles away, the source said.
No decision has been made on the request, the source added.
Hegseth, Caine head to Senate to talk Iran war, Pentagon's 2027 $1.5 trillion budget
War Secretary Pete Hegseth is set to face another round of tough questions on Capitol Hill, this time from the Senate Armed Services Committee, as lawmakers examine both the Trump administration’s handling of the war in Iran and its proposed 2027 military budget.
The hearing follows a nearly six-hour House session Wednesday in which Hegseth clashed with Democrats and some Republicans over the cost of the conflict, the loss of American lives and concerns about dwindling weapons stockpiles.
The administration’s budget plan would raise defense spending to a record $1.5 trillion, with a renewed emphasis on drones, missile defense and warships.
Democrats are expected to press Hegseth on the broader strategy behind the Iran conflict, which is now under a fragile ceasefire, as well as the administration’s decision-making and lack of congressional approval.
At Wednesday’s hearing, Pentagon officials said the war has already cost about $25 billion, largely in munitions, but Hegseth declined to say how long the conflict could continue or how much more it might cost.
The war secretary also came under fire over civilian casualties, including a strike on an Iranian elementary school that killed more than 165 people. Hegseth said the incident remains under investigation.
He was also questioned over the deaths of six American soldiers in a drone strike in Kuwait and over his removal of several senior military leaders, including Army Gen. Randy George.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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