May 14th, 2026

US Needs to Take Away Iran's 'Offensive Punch' Says Jensen

Ben Jensen, Director of the Futures Lab and Senior Fellow of the Defense and Security Department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies joins Balance of Power to discuss the conflict in Iran and what returning to kinetic fighting will look like. The US has destroyed more than 90% of Iran’s inventory of around 8,000 naval mines, the commander of US forces in the Middle East told lawmakers on Thursday, in a written statement that did not address Tehran’s continued control of the vital Strait of Hormuz.   US Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper said more than 700 airstrikes had eliminated Iran’s “once-massive inventory” of sea mines but he did not disclose how many had been laid in the strait versus destroyed in storage or on vessels.