The U.S. Navy has been ordered to gun down any speedboats suspected of laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz during the ceasefire; it will also continue its blockade of Iranian ports “for as long as it takes,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday.  U.S. Central Command announced on Friday that the carriers Abraham Lincoln, Gerald R. Ford, and George H.W. Bush are all in the Middle East, the first time in decades that three have operated in the region. Hegseth said during the Pentagon press briefing that as the number of warships participating in the blockade grows, the U.S.was “not anxious for a deal” and its military had “all the time in the world” as the war extended into its 55th day. “But with this blockade, the clock is not on […]