Secretary Hegseth: Unlike the endless wars of the past that dragged on for years, and for decades, with little to show for it, Operation Epic Fury has delivered a decisive military result in just weeks. Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, as the president has pointed out, all took years. Decades. Vague missions, shifting sands; little to show for it. Operation Epic Fury has been laser-focused from the very start, as I've said to all of you. Clear mission objectives, and ultimately, Iran will not have a nuclear weapon.

Secretary Hegseth: Iran knows that hey still have an open window to choose wisely at the negotiating table. All they have to do is abandon a nuclear weapon in meaningful and verifiable ways, or instead, they can watch their regimes fragile economic state collapse under the unrelenting pressure of American power. A blockade as long as it takes. Whatever President Trump decides.

Chairman Caine: As of this morning, thirty-four ships have met the U.S. blockade and made the wise choice to turn around. One ship did not, and that ship was the motor vessel Touska. Over several hours this past Sunday, April 19, the U.S. conducted maritime interdiction operations against the Touska, who's crew attempted to breach the blockade line…after exhausting all other measures, CENTCOM authorized disabling fire against the Touska. U.S. Sailors warned the crew of the Touska to abandon the engine room, and at approximately nine AM eastern time, the destroyer disabled the Touska's engine by firing nine inert rounds from the destroyer's Mark 45, five-inch guns, precisely into the engine room, and engine space onboard the Touska. Not surprisingly, the vessel then reported issues with their engine, went dead in the water, and began to comply with U.S. direction and orders. At four PM, eastern standard time, CENTCOM ordered United States Marines to seize the ship. Via helicopters, U.S. Marines maneuvered quickly to the disabled ship, boarder her from fast ropes via helicopter infiltration methods, and took custody of the ship. The ship and her crew remain safe in U.S. custody today.

Chairman Caine: The Joint Force remains on ensuring the Iranian regime cannot harm our interests, or those of our allies and partners. And I'll highlight that Iran has repeatedly sought to offensively and proactively expand the conflict by aggression against it's neighbors, and it's attacks on global shipping through the Strait. To date, Iran has attacked five merchant vessels, seized two of them, that were attempting to transit the Strait. And these include ships that Iran itself had cleared to proceed.