Iran launched missile and drone attacks on U.S. forces and merchant vessels in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday but did not land any hits, according to U.S. Central Command. The attack, the most significant threat to date to the shaky ceasefire that the United States and Iran reached last month, comes amid expanded U.S. operations to reopen the waterway to maritime traffic.
The Iranian attacks were carried out just after Central Command announced that two U.S.-flagged commercial vessels passed through the strait, the first known to have done so since the ceasefire, closely following the passage of two U.S. destroyers. The U.S. is reaching out to the hundreds of vessels, representing 87 countries, that are in the Persian Gulf to help them get through the strait, said Adm. Brad Cooper, head of Central Command.
Iran fired cruise missiles and drones at the U.S. destroyers and commercial vessels, Cooper said. Iran also sent six fast boats after the commercial ships, he said, but U.S. forces fired on and destroyed the boats. He would not say whether the exchange of strikes meant the ceasefire was over.
Iran had warned the United States against operating within the strait, saying that would be a violation of the truce.
“Iranian Armed Forces will attack any foreign force, particularly the U.S. military, if it attempts to approach or enter the Strait of Hormuz,” said Maj. Gen. Ali Abdollahi, a senior Iranian commander, according to a statement reported by Iran’s state-run Mehr News Agency on Monday.
Over the weekend Iranian officials said U.S. attempts to “interfere” with Tehran’s “management” of the strait would qualify as a ceasefire violation.
Reopening the strait — a vital chokepoint for oil and gas shipments through which Iran has slowed traffic to a trickle, causing severe disruptions to the global economy — has been a central issue in the weeks of negotiations between Iran and the U.S. since they agreed to a ceasefire on April 7, which largely halted fighting. The two sides have exchanged a number of proposals and held face-to-face talks in Pakistan, but they have failed to bridge considerable differences on key issues, including Iran’s nuclear program. Further complicating matters, Iran has insisted on using its control over the strait as leverage to demand the unfreezing of assets and war reparations.
Iran mined parts of the strait after the U.S. and Israel launched large-scale airstrikes on the country in late February. Since then, a handful of vessels have been allowed to transit, but they are required to coordinate with Iran, which has begun demanding tolls. Others have come under attack. Tehran has largely shut the waterway to traffic, cutting off roughly a fifth of global energy supplies, leading to energy shortages in many countries and skyrocketing prices elsewhere. The U.S. responded last month by placing an embargo on Iranian ports.
The Trump administration said over the weekend that it was moving forward with further military action to reopen the strait, including an effort between the State Department and international partners to increase information sharing on security in the waterway.
Trump said in a Truth Social post Sunday that the action is “meant to free up people, companies, and Countries that have done absolutely nothing wrong — They are victims of circumstance.”
The U.S. military mission to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, named “Project Freedom,” includes guided-missile destroyers, more than 100 Navy and Air Force warplanes, drones, satellite imagery and more than 15,000 personnel, Central Command said Monday.
The two U.S. destroyers that passed through the strait Monday were not “escorting” the commercial vessels and were instead moving through the waterway to clear it for traffic, a U.S. official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to share sensitive details.
The United Arab Emirates, also Monday, reported an Iranian missile attack on an industrial zone in Fujairah and drone attacks on a tanker affiliated with its state oil company, ADNOC, according to a statements from the UAE Foreign Ministry and local authorities. The statement said the tanker was empty at the time.
A U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports remains in place. Two aircraft carriers and a host of warships are intercepting commercial vessels that have visited Iranian ports or are carrying Iranian oil or cargo. The Navy says it has sent back to Iran or stopped 48 vessels, including firing on one to disable it when it tried to get past the blockade.
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