DUBAI/WASHINGTON/Tehran – Suspected Iranian strikes hit several ships in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday and set a UAE oil port ablaze, as President Donald Trump’s attempt to use the U.S. Navy to free up shipping provoked the biggest escalation of the Iran war since a ceasefire was declared four weeks ago.
Trump’s new mission “Project Freedom”, which he announced on social media overnight, was the first apparent attempt to make use of naval power to unblock the world’s most important energy shipping route. But at least in the initial hours on Monday, the gamble appeared to have backfired, bringing no surge of merchant shipping through the strait while provoking a show of force from Iran, which had long threatened to respond to any escalation with new attacks on its neighbours.
The U.S. military said two U.S. merchant ships had made it through the strait, without saying when. Iran denied any such crossings had taken place. The commander of U.S. forces in the region said his fleet had destroyed six small Iranian boats, which Iran also denied. Admiral Brad Cooper said he “strongly advised” Iranian forces to keep clear of U.S. military assets carrying out the mission.
The US military “blew up” six small Iranian boats in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday after Iran launched “multiple cruise missiles, drones and small boats” at US Navy ships and at commercial ships being “protected” by the US military, US Central Command chief Adm. Bradley Cooper told reporters. The Iranian boats were attacked by US Apache and SH-60 Seahawk helicopters, Cooper said. There are no “escorts” of commercial ships by the US Navy in the strait, Cooper said.
“If you’re escorting a ship, you’re playing kind of one-on-one. I think we have a much better defensive arrangement in this process, where we have multiple layers that include ships, helicopters, aircraft, airborne early warning, electronic warfare,” he said. “We have a much broader defensive package than we would have ever if you’re just escorting.”Cooper said that the US had cleared a “one way” path through the Strait meant to allow commercial vessels that have been “held hostage” in the Persian Gulf for weeks to exit the waterway — though he did not specify how many ships have used the newly cleared lane so far.
Three Indian nationals were moderately injured in a “major fire” caused by an Iranian drone strike on the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone, Emirati authorities said Monday.
All three were taken to a hospital, the Fujairah government said in a statement.
“Fujairah civil defense teams immediately began responding to the (fire) and are continuing efforts to bring it under control,” the government said in an earlier statement.
The drone strike and fire came as Emirati authorities announced that the UAE intercepted three Iranian missiles, the first since the country declared its airspace free of threats nearly a month ago.
The UAE was facing a second wave of Iranian drone and missiles within an hour, the Emirati Defense Ministry said late Monday. Sirens were sounding across the country.
Iran launched 4 cruise missiles at the UAE, said the Emirati Defense Ministry. Three were intercepted, while one crashed into the sea, says the ministry on X. The UAE had previously said it was facing drone and missile attacks from Iran. According to the ministry, the country’s air defenses engaged the incoming projectiles. Explosions heard across the country are the result of interceptions, says the ministry on X.
A fire has broken out at the Fujairah Oil Industrial Zone, the UAE’s only major port that sits on the Gulf of Oman, and can be reached without transiting the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has blocked.
Earlier this afternoon, the UAE ordered residents to head for shelters, then sent an all-clear message shortly afterward. Iran fired two drones at an Emirati commercial ships.
Iran’s army commander in chief, Maj Gen Amir Hatami, warned Monday that any attempt by US aircraft carriers to approach the Strait of Hormuz would be met with force, saying Iran has deployed “cruise missiles and combat drones.”
“The American aircraft carriers, with the stealth of radar silence, imagined they could approach the Strait of Hormuz; but our response was fire,” Hatami said in a post on X.
He added that “cruise missiles and combat drones took to the skies,” and he described regional security as a nonnegotiable Iranian priority.
Hatami also said Iranian forces maintain close surveillance over the Persian Gulf, adding: “Every inch of these waters is within the range of our will.”
The US military said earlier today that two US-flagged merchant vessels have successfully passed through the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran has denied this, calling the US Central Command’s statement “baseless” and “outright lies.”
Two US-flagged merchant vessels have successfully transited through the Strait of Hormuz, the US military said this morning.
“American forces are actively assisting efforts to restore transit for commercial shipping,” US Central Command said in a post on X.
The ships’ successful navigation of the strait comes a day after President Donald Trump vowed to guide vessels through the waterway, where Iran is attempting to control shipping.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), however, claimed no commercial vessels or oil tankers had transited the Strait of Hormuz in recent hours, rejecting statements by US officials as “baseless” and “outright lies,” according to a statement carried by Iran-semi official Tasnim News on Monday.
The IRGC said that “other maritime movements” that run contrary to principles announced by the IRGC Navy “face serious risks,” and warned that vessels deemed to be in violation would be “forcibly stopped,” as cited by Tasnim.
If Iran attacks any US ships around the Strait of Hormuz, they will “blown off the face of the earth,” US President Donald Trump told Fox News.
But he says that the Iranians are showing flexibility in talks and are “much more malleable” in the face of the US blockade of Iranian ports. Trump said that he is continuing to send troops and equipment to the region.
“We have more weapons and ammunition at a much higher grade than we had before,” Trump says. “We have the best equipment. We have stuff all over the world. We have these bases all over the world. They’re all stocked up with equipment. We can use all of that stuff, and we will, if we need it.”
Meanwhile, writing on social media, Trump says that Iran “has taken some shots at unrelated Nations,” including a South Korean cargo ship, but no damage has been caused to any other ships. Iran also reportedly fired missiles at the UAE today.
“Perhaps it’s time for South Korea to come and join the mission!” Trump says, adding that the US has destroyed seven Iranian fast boats.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine will hold a new conference tomorrow, he says.
