US says ‘no time frame’ on ending war with Iran, as Tehran says reopening Strait of Hormuz ‘not possible’

US Iran war: Pentagon admits no exit strategy as Tehran blocks Hormuz indefinitely

Muhammad Asghar | GlobalBeat

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters Tuesday the United States has set no deadline for ending its air campaign against Iran.

The admission landed hours after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards declared the Strait of Hormuz “closed for the foreseeable future,” choking off 20 percent of the world’s seaborne oil. Hegseth spoke from the Pentagon briefing room, flanked by Marine Gen. Eric Smith, hours after U.S. jets struck a fifth consecutive day of targets inside Iran.

Oil prices leapt 18 percent to $142 a barrel on the twin statements, the biggest one-day spike since the 1973 Arab embargo. Roughly 17 million barrels a day normally flow through the narrow waterway; tanker trackers reported zero laden vessels transiting the strait since Sunday. Insurance rates for ships willing to risk the passage have quadrupled, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence.

Washington launched Operation Iron Tempest on April 18 after Iran’s missile barrage against Israeli cities killed 43 people and disabled Tel Aviv’s main international airport. Hegseth said the goal remains “to degrade Iran’s ability to project terror,” but conceded commanders have received no guidance on when bombing might stop. “We are not working toward a calendar date,” he said. “We work toward effects.”

Tehran answered with a blunt naval order. Revolutionary Guards naval commander Alireza Tangsiri told state TV the strait “will reopen when American aggression ends,” a condition he refused to define. Satellite imagery reviewed by GlobalBeat shows at least 19 small gunboats stationed across the 21-mile wide shipping lane, while larger Iranian destroyers patrol the southern approach. The Guards also dropped contact mines in the deep-water corridor, according to the U.S. Fifth Fleet, though Iran denies using naval mines.

Britain, France and Germany jointly condemned the blockade and summoned Iranian ambassadors, but none offered military escorts for tankers. China, largest buyer of Iranian crude, stayed silent; Beijing imported 1.1 million barrels a day last month, almost all now diverted to overland routes through Pakistan. India’s oil ministry enacted emergency rationing, cutting diesel exports to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 energy sub-index surged 12 percent while airline stocks slumped 9 percent on jet-fuel fears. U.S. retail gasoline averaged $5.31 a gallon Wednesday, up 67 cents from last week, AAA data show. The White House announced a second release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, adding 45 million barrels to the 30 million pumped last weekend, yet traders called the volume symbolic against lost Gulf cargoes.

Casualty counts inside Iran remain sketchy. Tehran’s health ministry reported 78 civilians killed since April 18; U.S. officials claim “hundreds” of Revolutionary Guards dead in barracks strikes outside Isfahan. Neither figure could be verified. The International Committee of the Red Cross appealed for humanitarian corridors to evacuate wounded, but neither side responded.

Regional militias have entered the fray. Yemen’s Houthi movement fired six ballistic missiles at U.S. bases in Bahrain and Qatar overnight; American Patriot batteries intercepted four, while two struck the al-Udeid airfield in Qatar, wounding 11 airmen, Air Force Central Command confirmed. In Iraq, rockets slammed into the U.S. embassy compound in Baghdad’s Green Zone, causing no deaths but prompting evacuation of non-essential staff.

Diplomatic channels appear frozen. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei reiterated demands for a cease-fire “and lifting of all sanctions” before any talks. Hegseth rejected preconditions: “We will not negotiate under fire.” Russia offered to host preliminary discussions in Geneva; Washington declined, saying Tehran must first halt Hormuz mining. Saudi Arabia, fearful of Iranian reprisals, stayed neutral, though Riyadh quietly opened its Red Sea pipelines to Iraq’s Basra crude, adding 1 million barrels a day of spare capacity.

Background

The Strait of Hormuz has been the flashpoint of U.S.-Iran hostility since 1980, when the Carter administration branded the waterway a vital national interest. Tehran periodically threatened closure during the 1980s “Tanker War,” mining lanes and firing Silkworm missiles at Kuwaiti refiners. A 1988 American naval operation destroyed half the Iranian navy after a U.S. frigate struck an Iranian mine; the strait reopened under escort within weeks.

Tensions reignited in 2019 when the Trump administration tightened oil sanctions to zero, slashing Iranian exports from 2.5 million barrels a day to under 400,000. Mines damaged six tankers that spring. Britain seized an Iranian tanker off Gibraltar; Iran hijacked the British-flagged Stena Impero in retaliation, holding it for two months. A loose deterrence held until the current war began.

What’s Next

The U.N. Security Council meets Friday at European request to discuss safe-passage corridors, though veto powers U.S. and Russia remain at loggerheads. Hegseth pledged “continuous targeting” of Iran’s missile sites, while Tehran vowed nightly reprisals. Analysts expect global diesel stocks to tighten within 30 days; Europe has 55 days of cover, Asia 43. OPEC ministers called an emergency session for May 2 in Vienna, where Gulf states may bypass Iran’s blockade by running extra pipeline capacity to the Red Sea.

GlobalBeat understands Pentagon planners are weighing night sorties against naval bases at Bandar Abbas, a step that could sink Iran’s fleet but risks Russian and Chinese advisers on site. Absent either a truce or a successful tanker convoy, oil traders price crude rising toward $180 by June, a level economists say would tip large parts of the developing world into recession.