00:00Are you aware of reports that Pakistan are allowing their bases to be used to park Iranian aircraft, General King?
00:12Sir, I've seen one report on that.
00:15Well, is it accurate?
00:17Sir, I think based on the variety of classification matters that I've seen.
00:23Let me just say, do you agree if it is accurate, that is sort of inconsistent with it being a
00:27peace mediator?
00:29Sir, I wouldn't want to comment on that based on the ongoing negotiations in Pakistan's role.
00:34Secretary Hextus, if the mediator is allowing reconnaissance aircraft in Iran to be parked in Pakistani air bases, do you
00:44think that's consistent with being a fair mediator?
00:49Again, I wouldn't want to get in the middle of these negotiations.
00:52Well, I do. I want to get in the middle of these negotiations.
00:55I don't trust Pakistan as far as I can throw them.
00:59If they actually do have Iranian aircraft parked in Pakistan bases to protect Iranian military assets, that tells me we
01:09should be looking maybe for somebody else to mediate.
01:12No wonder this damn thing is going nowhere.
01:15So, you know, I appreciate all you've done.
01:19I'm very supportive of it.
01:20But when it comes to Pakistan and China, enough already.
01:24In my assessment, there was no imminent threat to the United States that justified the president using his Article II
01:31powers.
01:31And there was insufficient preparation to make sure that we had the right troops, the right capability deployed.
01:39There used to be a consensus in national security that America should only go to war when there's an imminent
01:45threat to our national security, when all the other options have been exhausted, and when we have clear objectives and
01:51a plan for how it ends.
01:52As General Cain testified, the military was given three clear goals, sink the Navy, attack and destroy the ballistic missile
02:01launchers, and degrade their defense industrial base.
02:03And you've accomplished those.
02:04But President Trump celebrated regime change after saying that regime change was the real goal.
02:11And our NATO allies have delivered.
02:14They have allowed overflight.
02:15They have allowed projection of force despite not being consulted.
02:18You said just a few moments ago, Mr. Secretary, we control the strait.
02:23But it's clear that reopening the Strait of Hormuz for commercial traffic eludes us, in no small part because Iran
02:31retains a robust stockpile of cheap, lethal Shahed drones.
02:37And they are getting help from our adversaries in rebuilding them.
02:41What is your plan for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, Mr. Secretary?
02:47I would just note that the majority of your question was highly disingenuous and loaded with suggestions that I very
02:53much don't agree with.
02:55From the beginning...
02:56Please feel free, sir, to pick any one of those things.
02:58From the beginning, we've been very clear about the military objectives and the underlying strategic objective, which is preventing Iran
03:03from getting a nuclear weapon.
03:04Take, for example, the fact that Iranians, conventional Navy, they had aircraft carriers with Shaheed drones on them before this
03:12started.
03:12They had full-on destroyers and battleship capabilities, none of which they have anymore.
03:17And did the Iranian Navy have aircraft carriers?
03:20The Iranian Navy had three drone aircraft carriers.
03:23The Iranian Navy had 11 submarines.
03:24They had launch platforms for drones, sure.
03:26They had 11 submarines.
03:27And you've sunk all of the regular Navy.
03:29Great.
03:29Good.
03:30They retained fast boat capabilities, which they've always had.
03:34We understand that, which we can control for and will.
03:36We've degraded almost completely their defense industrial-based capabilities.
03:40The idea that they control anything, you can terrorize something.
03:44You can hold it at issue with piracy, as I've talked about at the Pentagon podium time and time again.
03:48That doesn't mean you control it.
03:50We control what goes in and out.
03:52And we control whether or not we have to restart conflict.
03:54The president does as well.
03:55So we're the ones that will manage where this goes in the future.
03:58And they have very limited ability to set the tempo or respond to it.
04:02And that gives the president a lot of options to ensure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon.
04:08The connection between their ability to close the Strait of Hormuz using fast boats and Shahed drones
04:15and our strategic goal, shared broadly, to prevent them from ever having a usable nuclear weapon is utterly unclear to
04:22me.
04:22And my question was, what's the plan for reopening the Strait of Hormuz to commercial traffic, given skyrocketing prices?
04:31It was executed, shared broadly, but never executed, because previous administration didn't have the willingness to actually do what it
04:36would take.
04:37And when Iran was at its weakest moments following the 12-day war, but still wanted the pursuit of a
04:42nuclear capability,
04:43President Trump made the courageous decision to go at their conventional umbrella and shield,
04:49which they were using to protect their nuclear program, which we knew came with threats and branches and sequels.
04:55My concern, Mr. Secretary, is that you've achieved a series of tactical successes, but are on the verge of a
05:01strategic loss,
05:02because we are now negotiating a demand...
05:05Just think it's so foolish. Here we are in a committee in the United States Senate, 74 days in,
05:09and you're talking about strategic loss.
05:11We have the ability to defeat a 47-year threat of a pursuit of a nuclear weapon.
05:16We have more leverage than we've ever had.
05:18We've had incredible battlefield successes, and you're talking about a strategic loss?
05:23Mr. Secretary...
05:24...closed and disingenuous questions?
05:25Mr. Secretary...
05:25This is how you undercut efforts that could otherwise and are otherwise being very effective.
05:29I am not your enemy, sir. I am not your adversary. I share your goal of preventing Iran from ever
05:34having a usable nuclear weapon. To finish my sentence, control of the Strait of Hormuz,
05:40the ability to degrade our partners and allies' gas and oil production capabilities through cheap
05:46drones, the ability to harass and harry commercial shipping remains in Iran's hands. And their demands
05:54are that we recognize sovereignty for them over the Strait of Hormuz, which I believe our president's
06:00rejected, you've rejected, I reject. But my question remains, how do we reopen the Strait of Hormuz
06:06to commercial shipping? If we control it, how do we reopen it? And your average American is seeing
06:12this at the gas pump every single day as the cost of gas continues to rise.
06:18Senator Coons, I know that your question has not yet been responded to...
06:23And it deserves an answer.
06:24It does deserve an answer.
06:25But I also understand I'm delaying my colleagues, but that's the question that deserves an answer,
06:28Mr. Secretary.
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