“Europe and Asia have benefited from our protection for decades, but the time for free-riding is over.”
During a Pentagon press briefing on Friday, Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth called out NATO and other allies who he said have been “free riding” on the United States' efforts in the Strait of Hormuz as the conflict has passed 55 days.
Hegseth called on Europe and other allies of the US to start picking up slack in the fight against Iran to open up the Strait of Hormuz. “It's also worth saying this should not be America's fight alone. We barely use the Strait of Hormuz as a country. Our energy doesn't flow through there, and we have plenty of energy. Just look at the new global conga line headed to Texas, a beautiful picture,” Hegseth said.
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“Europe and Asia have benefited from our protection for decades, but the time for free-riding is over. America and the free world deserve allies who are capable, who are loyal, and who understand that being an ally is not a one-way street. It's a two-way street. We are not counting on Europe, but they need the Strait of Hormuz much more than we do, and might want to start doing less talking and having less fancy conferences in Europe and get in a boat,” he added.
When asked by reporters if Europe would be getting involved in any capacity as their jet fuel stockpiles are running out, Hegseth said, “I know there's a lot of talks. You saw [what] I would call a silly conference in Europe last week, where they got together and talked about maybe doing something eventually, when things are done. Those are not serious efforts yet. We would welcome that. We would welcome a serious European effort to do something about this Strait and this passage, considering it's their energy capabilities that are most at stake, I think it's a wake-up call.”
Hegseth also added that the American blockade is also expanding by the day. “As part of that effort, the United States has imposed an ironclad blockade that grows more powerful by the day, from the Gulf of Oman to the open oceans. Our Navy is enforcing this blockade without hesitation or apology,” Hegseth added during the conference.
He noted that although the blockade is blocking off all Iranian ships, there have been some ships that have been allowed to go through the Strait.
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The Strait of Hormuz is a key waterway for crude oil and other commercial shipping off the southwest coast of Iran. The Iranian regime and the IRGC have been firing on shipping going through the strait as their military capacities within the country have been heavily degraded by the US military. However, Iran's economy is heavily dependent on shipments out of the key waterway. With the US blockade, the Trump administration is effectively hamstringing the Iranian economy.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Dan Caine highlighted the efforts of a sector of professionals in the military. On Friday, he highlighted the intelligence community in the US Military.
“I want to honor members of the Joint Force today. I want to highlight and proudly describe the essential role of our intelligence enterprise and the role that they play in conducting our military operations. The totality of their work is the culmination of days, months, and in many cases, years of work by our uniformed and civilian intelligence professionals, we have been able to do the work that we are ordered to do because America's intelligence force, including our core collectors and analysts, have spent decades searching for every loose thread,” Caine said.
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