Iran can’t hold out much longer. Their armed forces are wrecked. Their economy is coming apart. The grip of the mullahs, those savage 7th-century barbarians who have run Iran since 1979, is weakening. So what happens now?
On Thursday, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth had some pretty blunt words for what’s left of Iran’s leadership: They can choose prosperity, or they can choose destruction.
.@SecWar with a message to Iranian leadership: “As our negotiators have said, you, Iran, could choose a prosperous future, a golden bridge, and we hope that you do for the people of Iran. In the meantime, and for as long as it takes, we will maintain this successful blockade. But… pic.twitter.com/KEsJUPY7Ls
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 16, 2026
The Secretary of War said in part:
With a message to Iran’s military leadership, to the KH [Khamenei] leadership and IRGC leadership: We’re watching you.
Our capabilities are not the same, our military and yours. Remember, this is not a fair fight. And we know what military assets you are moving, where you are moving them to. While you are digging out, which is exactly what you are doing, digging out of bombed-out and devastated facilities, we are only getting stronger. You are digging out your remaining launchers and missiles with no ability to replace them. You have no defense industry, no ability to replenish your offensive or defensive capabilities. You only have what you have. You know that. And we know that. You can move things around, but you can’t actually rebuild. You can dig out for now, but you can’t reconstitute.
But we can. We are reloading with more power than ever before, and better intelligence, even more importantly, better intelligence than ever before, as you expose yourself with your movement to our watchful eye. We are locked and loaded on your critical dual-use infrastructure, on your remaining power generation, and on your energy industry. We’d rather not have to do it, but we’re ready to go at the command of our President and at the push of a button.
That’s the stick, and it’s a big stick; more of a club. This is a warning that Theodore Roosevelt would have approved of. And the warning from the War Department wasn’t over yet, and in the end, Secretary of War Hegseth offered the carrot, as well:
This blockade, which the Chairman will detail this morning, is the polite way that this can go. Your energy is not moving, and will not move, and we can do this all day. But it’s not destroyed yet. Your energy industry is not destroyed yet. You’d like to say publicly, Iran, that you control the Strait of Hormuz, but you don’t have a navy or real domain awareness. You can’t control anything. To be clear: threatening to shoot missiles and drones at ships, commercial ships that are lawfully transiting international waters, that is not control. That’s piracy. That’s terrorism.
The United States Navy controls the traffic going in and out of this strait because we have real assets and real capabilities. And we’re doing this blockade, performing it with less than 10% of America’s naval power. The math is clear: we’re using ten percent of the world’s most powerful navy, and you have zero percent of your navy. That’s real control. We have a long track record dealing with pirates and terrorists.
But there is an alternative. As our negotiators have said, Iran can choose a prosperous future, a golden bridge. And we hope that you do, for the people of Iran. In the meantime, and for as long as it takes, we will maintain this successful blockade. But if Iran chooses poorly, then they will have a blockade and bombs dropping on infrastructure, power, and energy. And at the same time, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and our friends over at Treasury are launching Operation Economic Fury as well. Maximizing economic pressure across the entirety of the government. To Iran: choose wisely.
I’ll make a prediction here: The mullahs will not choose wisely. The IRGC will not choose wisely. They can’t. They know that any new government is unlikely to deal kindly with the people who kept the people of Iran under their sandals for so long.
Read More: Pentagon: Hegseth’s Strait of Malacca Deal Part of Trump’s ‘America First Defense’ Umbrella
Despite the Bluster No One Has Challenged the U.S. Navy’s Blockade of Iran’s Ports
As Secretary Hegseth states, there’s a way forward for Iran, a way that actually is forward, not backwards. But it won’t happen under Iran’s current leadership. It won’t happen as long as Iran’s vicious theocracy remains in place. It won’t happen until the mullahs are stripped of every vestige of political power. The current state of affairs in Tehran can’t go on.
Right now, the United States holds all the cards, and Secretary Hegseth just showed our hand – we’re holding aces over kings. The mullahs are betting the future of Iran on a pair of fives. They are going to lose, but even with a new regime, the transition won’t be easy. Uprooting the remains, the influence of the mullahs will be the work of generations. It won’t be quick, and it won’t be easy, but it has to be done.
That’s the message the United States has just sent to Iran: You may as well get started now.
Editor’s Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.
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