Hegseth and Caine holding Iran war briefing amid Strait of Hormuz tensions

Politics Hegseth and Caine holding news conference on Iran war, as ceasefire grinds on but tension swirls in Strait of Hormuz By Joe Walsh Joe Walsh Senior Editor, Politics Joe Walsh is a senior editor for digital politics at CBS News. Joe previously covered breaking news for Forbes and local news in Boston. Read Full Bio Joe Walsh April 24, 2026 / 6:59 AM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google The U.S. military's top uniformed and top civilian officials will take questions from the press on the Iran war Friday morning, as a weeks-long U.S.-Iran ceasefire remains in place — but with both sides ratcheting up their competition for control over shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are holding a news conference at 8 a.m. ET. They have jointly addressed reporters several times since Operation Epic Fury began in late February.While fighting between the U.S. and Iran is paused, American forces have imposed a blockade on Iranian ports at President Trump's direction, turning around over 30 ships so far, according to U.S. Central Command. Meanwhile, Iran has sought to control shipping traffic through the strait, claiming Thursday it had collected its first toll revenue at the waterway, a strategically important chokepoint that normally carries one-fifth of the world's oil. Tensions have grown in recent days, as the two countries carry out tit-for-tat interdictions of vessels. The U.S. intercepted and boarded a pair of Iran-linked oil tankers, and Iran has attacked and allegedly boarded at least two cargo ships in the strait. Iran's Revolutionary Guards released an edited video Thursday that the corps claimed shows masked commandos zipping toward two cargo ships and climbing aboard. The Philippine government said 15 Filipino seafarers aboard vessels that were seized by Iran were "safe and unharmed."Mr. Trump said Thursday the U.S. has "total control" over the...