President Donald Trump on Monday warned Iran could be “blown off the face of the Earth” if it attacks ships being escorted by the U.S. Navy through the crucial shipping lane Strait of Hormuz.
Trump made his latest warning in remarks to Fox News after Iran launched missile and drone attacks on U.S. forces and commercial vessels but, according to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), failed to hit targets.
Iran’s parliamentary speaker and lead negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf hit back on Tuesday, warning on X that the “status quo is intolerable for America; while we have not even begun yet.”
The U.S. and Iran traded the warnings as the fragile ceasefire in the Middle East looked to enter a new perilous phase, with Trump on Sunday revealing the “Project Freedom” initiative to guide ships through the strait from Monday.
Washington’s move aims to partially reopen the strait, where shipping has slowed to a near standstill after Iranian threats against passing vessels. The U.S. later imposed its own blockade targeting Iran’s oil exports, creating a standoff in which both sides are seeking to outlast the other.
At a press conference on Tuesday morning, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said, “What we’re demonstrating with Project Freedom is that they don’t control the strait,” while Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine said Iran has attacked U.S. forces more than 10 times since the ceasfire began on April 8, adding “all below the threshold of restarting major combat operations at this point.”
Among the latest key developements:
- Boat strikes: Trump said U.S. forces destroyed seven Iranian small boats for trying to interfere in “Project Freedom”
- “Project Freedom”: Two American-flagged merchant ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, the U.S. military said. A claim denied by Iran. Danish shipping giant Maersk has said one of its vessels, Alliance Fairfax, passed through the strait under U.S. military protection
- Shipping industry: But tanker owners and operators are unclear about how “Project Freedom” will make progress, according to the managaing director of trade body Intertanko, who told BBC News, “There is no structured convoy or co-ordination mechanism in place.
- UAE attack: United Arab Emirates said it was attacked on Monday for the first time since the April 8 ceasefire began
- Gas prices: Oil prices dipped but remained elevated after Maersk’s announcement, with Brent crude at about $113 a barrel. Average gas prices in the U.S. ticked up to $4.48 a gallon on Tuesday, according to American Automobile Association data
US Says Destroyers and Cargo Ships Crossed Strait of Hormuz
Two American-flagged merchant ships have gone through the Strait of Hormuz on the first day of Project Freedom,” the U.S. military said.
CENTCOM said Monday that the ships “successfully transited” and are now “safely headed on their journey.” It also said U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers were operating in the Arabian Gulf after “transiting” the waterway in support of Project Freedom, despite Iranian warnings.
But Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps dismissed the U.S. claim as “baseless and completely false” in a statement shared by the semi-official Fars News Agency, adding “no commercial vessels or oil tankers have passed through the Strait of Hormuz in recent hours.”
The head of Iran’s central command Major General Ali Abdollahi said the strait is “under the control” of Tehran. He said Iran would attack “any foreign armed force” in the Strait of Hormuz, “especially the aggressive U.S. Army,” in a statement to Iranian state broadcaster IRIB.
The head of the Iranian parliament’s National Security Commission, Ebrahim Azizi, also warned that “interference” would be “considered a violation of the ceasefire.”
“The Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf would not be managed by Trump’s delusional posts,” Azizi said in an X post. “No one would believe Blame Game scenarios!”
Iran said on Monday morning that it had hit a U.S. warship with two missiles, but CENTCOM denied this, saying: “No U.S. Navy ships have been struck. U.S. forces are supporting Project Freedom and enforcing the naval blockade on Iranian ports.”
Meanwhile the United Arab Emirates said it was attacked on Monday for the first time since a ceasefire began last month, apparently in response to Project Freedom. Its defense ministry reported that various missiles and drones from Iran had been intercepted, but one attack caused a fire at the Fujairah oil port, which lies beyond the strait.
Trump’s Project Freedom Plan
Trump announced the U.S. naval mission Sunday in a lengthy Truth Social post, framing Operation Freedom as a humanitarian gesture in response to requests from countries with no direct stake in the war.
“Countries from all over the World, almost all of which are not involved in the Middle Eastern dispute going on so visibly, and violently, for all to see, have asked the United States if we could help free up their Ships, which are locked up in the Strait of Hormuz, on something which they have absolutely nothing to do with—They are merely neutral and innocent bystanders!” he wrote.
Trump framed the move as a goodwill gesture to all parties—including Iran. “I am fully aware that my Representatives are having very positive discussions with the Country of Iran, and that these discussions could lead to something very positive for all,” Trump wrote. “The Ship movement is merely meant to free up people, companies, and Countries that have done absolutely nothing wrong—They are victims of circumstance. This is a Humanitarian gesture on behalf of the United States, Middle Eastern Countries but, in particular, the Country of Iran.”
Trump cited deteriorating conditions on board many of the trapped vessels. “Many of these Ships are running low on food, and everything else necessary for large-scale crews to stay on board in a healthy and sanitary manner,” he wrote. “I think it would go a long way in showing Goodwill on behalf of all of those who have been fighting so strenuously over the last number of months.”
He also issued a clear warning that any interference would draw a forceful response. “If, in any way, this Humanitarian process is interfered with, that interference will, unfortunately, have to be dealt with forcefully,” the president wrote.
CENTCOM provided the first detailed picture of the operation’s scale on Sunday, revealing that the package includes guided-missile destroyers, more than 100 land and sea-based aircraft, multidomain unmanned platforms, and 15,000 service members. The deployment will continue alongside the existing U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports, which has been in place since April 13.
U.S. Admiral Brad Cooper, the head CENTCOM, told reporters on Monday that his forces were encouraging vessels to transit the strait despite Iranian threats.
“Over the last 12 hours, we’ve reached out to dozens of ships and shipping companies to encourage traffic flow through the strait,” he said. “This news has been quite enthusiastically received, and we’re already beginning to see movement.”
Project Freedom, he noted, isn’t focused on escorting ships in the traditional sense. Instead, it’s a multi-layered defensive scheme that includes ships, aircraft, and electronic warfare.
“If you’re escorting a ship, you’re playing kind of one on one,” he said. “I think we have a much better defensive arrangement in this process. We have a much broader defensive package than you would have ever if you were just escorting.”
US Advice to Ships Navigating Strait of Hormuz
The U.S. “enhanced security area” in the Strait of Hormuz, which is just over 20 miles wide at its narrowest point, is directing commercial vessels closer to the Omani coast off the country’s Musandam Peninsula.
Oman and Iran previously agreed to a traffic separation scheme for inbound and outbound traffic in the strait, standard routes adopted by the U.N.’s International Maritime Organization in 1968 for maritime safety.
Sailing in or near the internationally recognized sea lanes “should be considered extremely hazardous due to the presence of mines that have not been fully surveyed and mitigated,” according to an advisory by U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, distributed by the U.S.-run Joint Maritime Information Center.
The managing director of Intertanko, a trade body representing independent tanker owners and operators on Tuesday suggested “Project Freedom” had left many unanswered questions.
Tim Wilkins told BBC News, “There is no structured convoy or co-ordination mechanism in place. So our members are simply asking the basic questions, who initiates these transits?
“Who communicates with the authorities on behalf of the vessel? And indeed, a critical one, what is the fallback if a vessel is challenged by Iranian forces during the transit?
“These are the critical questions that the owners are asking and conferring with their crew on board their vessels.”
On April 9, two days into the ceasefire, Iran’s military announced alternative routes through the strait. It warned that the actual traffic zone had been mined and declared it a “hazardous area.”
The Iranian traffic lanes direct inbound ships to the waters north of its Larak Island, while outbound vessels are told to use the deeper waters south of the island—but both are within Iran’s territorial sea.
Tehran has selectively allowed merchant ships through the strait without attack and in certain cases has reportedly collected a fee for utilizing its designated corridor.
The U.S. Treasury Department said last month that any vessel found to have paid the Iranian “toll” also risked U.S. sanctions.
Update 5/5/2026 at 8:30 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
Update 5/5/2026 at 9:15 a.m. ET: Remarks by Pete Hegseth and Dan Caine were added.
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