HII Wins $336 Million Navy Contract for USS William J. Clinton Long-Lead Materials

Abolfazl Shekarchi, a senior spokesman for Iran's armed forces, rejected claims by United States Central Command, or CENTCOM, that U.S. forces supported the transport of more than 1 billion barrels of oil through the Strait of Hormuz in recent months. In a statement carried by Iranian media, Shekarchi said the claim made by Admiral Brad Cooper, the CENTCOM commander, on Saturday, September 19, was untrue and absurd, calling it a failed psychological operation and an attempt to rationalize the enormous losses and financial costs the United States has borne in the region. Shekarchi stressed that decision-making authority in the Strait of Hormuz remains in the hands of Iranian forces. In a video posted on social media the same day, Cooper said the United States reached that milestone while helping more than 2,000 commercial vessels transit the strait under systematic escort, and claimed that Iran has been able to export zero barrels of oil because of a strong U.S. blockade. After U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, Iran restricted traffic through the strategic shipping route, while U.S. forces enforced a naval blockade targeting vessels traveling to or from Iranian ports.

Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said on September 18 that US-led military exercises are steadily worsening the situation on the Korean Peninsula, and affirmed that North Korea will continue to build up its nuclear arsenal. The Korean Central News Agency reported Kim Yo Jong's statement, which referred to the annual Pacific Vanguard naval exercise scheduled for 2026 near Guam as yet another US-led war rehearsal and part of efforts to expand military influence in the Asia-Pacific region through cooperation with allies such as South Korea and Japan. Kim Yo Jong said the situation compels North Korea to take proportional or more proactive countermeasures, and warned that the North Korean military will mobilize every means at its disposal if its security or national interests are violated. The statement was her second in two days, after she rejected calls for North Korea to denuclearize once again on Thursday, September 17, at a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency, reiterating the position that North Korea's status as a nuclear-armed state is irreversible. The multilateral Pacific Vanguard 2026 naval exercise is led by the United States, with maritime forces from South Korea, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Japan taking part near Guam from August 29 to September 10, according to Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force.