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Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/frank-mckenzie-face-the-nation-transcript-07-12-2026/
Former CENTCOM Commander: U.S. Has Capability to Control Strait of Hormuz
(CBS News) Margaret Brennan - Gen. (ret.) Frank McKenzie, former commander of U.S. Central Command, told CBS's "Face the Nation" on Sunday: "We certainly have the capability to control the Strait of Hormuz if the president chooses to follow that course of action....That would include opening the Strait of Hormuz, maintaining the Strait of Hormuz open, and in fact, seizing Kharg Island, should we elect to do that....That's something we should think about doing because possession of Iranian soil would be a significant factor in future negotiations with Iran." "We have not deployed all the capabilities that we have to open the Strait. We certainly can do that....If you want to gain concessions from Iran, you have to directly pressure the regime, and you have to do so in a way that perhaps is existential to them. We have those capabilities should the president choose to go that way." "What Iran wants to do is extend negotiations in time, arguing about the size of the table, who's in the room, the font on the document, everything except the core issues. We need to recognize that, and we need to be prepared to pressure Iran to negotiate on the real germane issues...opening the Strait of Hormuz, some movement on ballistic missiles, some movement on support for proxies. We are capable of getting some form of movement on all those things. We just have to be willing to put pressure on Iran in order to achieve those goals."