US eyes Iran fast boats with ‘kill’ tactics tested in Venezuela drug-boat strikes

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2026 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by LSEG. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth warned Iranian leaders to "choose wisely" on whether to accept a peace deal with the U.S. on Thursday. The U.S. is preparing to take on Iran’s fast-attack boats using a playbook it already has tested in another theater — lethal strikes on small vessels tied to drug trafficking networks in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. Since September 2025, U.S. forces have conducted dozens of deadly strikes on suspected drug-trafficking vessels, part of a broader military campaign targeting cartel-linked networks. The U.S. campaign against drug-trafficking boats offers a glimpse of how American forces handle small, fast-moving targets at sea. Officials now suggest similar tactics could be used against Iranian vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. President Donald Trump made that link explicit in a Truth Social post Monday, warning that a