Hegseth says there's "no clear evidence" Iran is placing new mines in Strait of Hormuz

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the U.S. has heard Iran talking about placing new mines in the Strait of Hormuz, but he told reporters Friday, "We have no clear evidence of that."

He and Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine briefed reporters at the Pentagon Friday on the latest developments in the war with Iran, as ship traffic remains largely stopped in the Strait, though Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said the U.S. Navy could escort oil tankers through the waterway.

U.S. forces are continuing to target Iran's ballistic missiles and "continuing to destroy the Iranian navy," Caine said, "and this means going after Iran's mining capability and destroying their ability to go after commercial vessels." 

"That's not a strait we're going to allow to remain contested," Hegseth told reporters.

Hegseth and Caine spoke a day after a U.S. military refueling tanker crashed in western Iraq, killing at least four U.S. service members. Caine said Friday rescue efforts were still underway as two other crew members remain missing. Hegseth said of the crash that "bad things happen," and he praised the crew as heroes.

The crash occurred over friendly territory while the crew was on a combat mission, Caine said, adding that it was not due to hostile or friendly fire.

Since the war began on Feb. 28, the U.S. military struck about 6,000 targets in Iran as of Thursday, according to Central Command. The U.S. and Israel combined have hit more than 15,000 "enemy targets," according to Hegseth.

Iran's missile volume is down 90%, Hegseth told reporters Friday. All of Iran's defense companies will be destroyed — all have been "functionally defeated," he said.

But Iran's assaults have continued, and oil prices have risen to over $100 a barrel while stock prices are sliding, even in the face of the president's assertions that he'll end the war soon and announcements of major oil reserve releases. 

Bessent announced on Thursday that the U.S. would temporarily loosen sanctions against Russia, to allow the Kremlin to sell Russian oil that's already at sea. It's an effort to ease restrictions on Russia's oil industry as the world grapples with high oil prices.

Asked about Iran's nuclear program and whether U.S. military would need to take control of the enriched uranium in Iran's possession in order to conclude its military operation, Hegseth only said that the U.S. retains options to keep Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. "We have options, for sure," he said.

Hegseth was also asked about the military investigation into the bombing of an elementary school in Iran and reports that a preliminary probe suggested the U.S. was responsible for the strike. Hegseth said CENTCOM has designated an investigating officer from outside CENTCOM to carry out a command investigation of the incident, but declined to give a timeframe for the investigation.

So far, the administration has said little about Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who was said by an Iranian official to have been injured in the attack, but is "alive and well," though he has not been seen since the war began.  

Hegseth said Friday, "We know the new, so-called not-so-Supreme Leader is wounded and likely disfigured," noting that a statement attributed to Khamenei on Thursday was written and included no image of him.

Iranian state media released the statement, which said Iran should keep leveraging its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz and vowed to continue attacks on targets in Gulf Arab nations.