US Blockade Now 'Incredibly Effective,' Press Sec. Leavitt Mocks Iran As 'Pirates'

The utter military defeat of Iran in Operation Epic Fury seems pretty clear to everyone but Iran. On Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt appeared on the Fox News program The Story, with host Martha McCallum, to talk about just that defeat - and how the Iranians are acting right now. It's an interesting conversation.

First, Secretary Leavitt described the state of Iran's nuclear ambitions.

.@PressSec on Iran: @POTUS "has made his redlines very clear. Iran can never obtain a nuclear bomb to threaten the United States and our allies and they must turn over the enriched Uranium that's in their possession... We await their response." pic.twitter.com/hoYLwHje9s
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 22, 2026

Secretary Leavitt said:

As far as the formal negotiations, humanitarian issues are of great concern to this president, but with respect to the negotiations that are ongoing, he's made his redlines very clear. Iran can never obtain a nuclear bomb to threaten the United States and our allies, and they must turn over the enriched uranium that's in their possession. While it is very far into the ground, thanks to the success of Operation Midnight Hammer, it's important to the president that they hand that enriched uranium over. He's made that quite clear to them. And now, we're waiting to hear back from the Iranian regime. The fact that they cannot send a unified message yet, which is why the president decided to extend the cease-fire, just shows how effective Operation Epic Fury truly was. Because there's a lot of internal division over there, the president understands that, and so we await their response.

The unified message comment is the key to the whole thing. Now, Secretary Leavitt seems to say here that the administration is waiting for what's left of Iran's leadership to coalesce around one person, sooner or later. That seems unlikely. The new Supreme Leader's status is unknown, but he is known to have been seriously hurt in the same strikes that killed his father, the previous Supreme Leader; at this point, it seems very likely that he's looking at grass from the wrong side. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps seems determined to keep up the fight, evidently intending to go down in a blaze of glory - and if that's their intent, we can fully expect President Trump to tell them, "Your terms are acceptable."

Trump Shares Great News About Eight Female Protesters Whom Iran Was Going to Execute

Next, Press Secretary Leavitt, in response to Iran's claim to have seized two ships, likened Iran's speedboat flotilla to a "bunch of pirates," not a wholly inapt comparison.

.@PressSec: "Iran has gone from having the most lethal navy in the Middle East to now acting like a bunch of pirates. They don’t have control over the Strait—this is piracy that we are seeing on display, and the naval blockade that the United States has imposed continues to be… pic.twitter.com/yCnQGfIe2c
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 22, 2026

Here's that conversation:

Martha McCallum: Does the president view that as a violation of the cease-fire?
Karoline Leavitt: No, because these were not U.S. ships. These were not Israeli ships. These were two international vessels, and for the American media who were sort of blowing this out of proportion, and to discredit the president's facts, that he has completely obliterated Iran's conventional navy, these two ships were taken by speedy gunboats. Iran has gone from having the most lethal navy in the Middle East to now acting like a bunch of pirates. They don't have control over the Strait. This is piracy that we are seeing on display, and that the United States has imposed continues to be incredibly effective, and to be clear, the blockade is on ships going to and from Iranian ports. And the point of this is the economic leverage that we maintain over Iran now, while there's a cease-fire with respect to the military and kinetic strikes, Operation Economic Fury continues, and the crux of that is this naval blockade. We are choking their economy, we are strangling their main source of revenue, they can't pay their own people, they are losing $500 million every single day, Kharg Island is completely full of oil because they can't transport it to and from. So, the president, the cards are in his hands, the United States maintains control over this situation, he has all of the leverage, and, again, that's why he's maintained a little bit of flexibility with the extension of the cease-fire as we await a unified response from the Iranians to the president's very clear proposal.

The kinetic war has turned into an economic war, and while fewer people will end up dead this way, the United States still has all the advantages here, and Iran has, well, none. Every day, the vice turns a little tighter. The mullahs, or what's left of them, and the theocratic regime, just can't last much longer. Weeks? Maybe. Months? Probably not.

It's as it has been: President Trump, right now, holds aces over kings, while Iran is sitting on a pair of fives. They just don't have many options left.

Editor's Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.

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