Washington DC, March 13 -- US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Friday dismissed concerns over the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei's, call for a continued blockade of the Strait of Hormuz amid the conflict in West Asia, saying the US is fully prepared to ensure freedom of navigation in the strategic waterway.

Speaking alongside the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, during a Pentagon briefing, Hegseth said, "As the world is seeing, they are exercising sheer desperation in the Strait of Hormuz - something we're dealing with; we have been dealing with it. Don't need to worry about it."

"The only thing prohibiting transit in the strait right now is Iran shooting at shipping," the US War Secretary ad...