Fox News88%
Hegseth, Caine testify on Pentagon spending, Iran war as Hormuz blockade shakes oil markets 90%
By Eric Mack0% Jennifer Griffin0% Emma Bussey0%
4/30/2026, 10:22:31 AM
BS Summary: This article contains 28 faulty reasoning types, including Framing Effect, Pessimism Bias, and Appeal to Emotion, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 31.7% saturation with 402 hits. Analysis detected 1,525 faulty-reasoning hits from 1,267 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 83.5% and a BS Rank of 90% (1,835 of 16,813 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 89.10% of the article peer group.
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 are returning to Capitol Hill as lawmakers review the ongoing Iran conflict, the Pentagon’s proposed $1.5 trillion fiscal 2027 budget, rising oil prices and pressure around peace talks.
Covered by: Eric Mack, Jennifer Griffin and Emma Bussey
WHAT TO KNOW
War Secretary Pete Hegseth is set to face another round of tough questions on Capitol Hill, this time from the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The U.S.
Army’s Dark Eagle hypersonic missile could be deployed to the Middle East for potential use against Iran.
The Pentagon has estimated the Operation Epic Fury has cost $28 billion to date, and the 2027 Pentagon budget request is $1.5 trillion.
Sanctioned tankers disguised as Iraqi vessels are reportedly moving hundreds of millions of dollars in Iranian crude around President Donald Trump's oil blockade.
House testimony got testy between Hegseth and Democrats critical of the war and Trump.
Iran supreme leader statement: Only place for US in Persian Gulf is 'bottom of its waters'
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Iran’s supreme leader, 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.”
Posted by Eric Mack
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 is also scheduled to meet with lawmakers as Pentagon leaders testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee, according to details confirmed by Fox News.
President Donald Trump is weighing the next steps in the standoff with Iran, including possible military action tied to the ongoing disruption around the Strait of Hormuz.
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.
'Doomed to fail?'
Hormuz blockade sends oil, gas prices higher as global supply fears deepen
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.
Posted by Emma Bussey
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.
Analysis
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