Pete Hegseth's testimony to Congress on the Iran war drew sharp criticism, with a military expert calling his claims about reopening the Strait of Hormuz dishonest — bad news for the administration's war narrative.

• The Strait of Hormuz remains closed to commercial traffic and has been since the war started.
• Hegseth dismissed a senator's question as "disingenuous" instead of answering how the US plans to reopen it.
• Despite 40 days of bombing and 14,000 targets, US military force has not reopened the strait and likely cannot.
• The only real paths forward are a negotiated deal with Iran or walking away and claiming victory.
• Hegseth later contradicted himself by claiming military options exist to reopen it — which a retired colonel called lying.
• His qualifications are being questioned again, with critics pointing to the earlier Signal chat scandal where he used a civilian app for operational war planning.

Outlook: The strait stays closed, military options remain exhausted, and pressure builds for either a deal with Iran or a quiet US withdrawal.