“Project Freedom is Project Deadlock,” Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, posted online on Monday, mocking the codename Donald Trump has given to the U.S. effort to open the Strait of Hormuz.
The same day, Iranian state media claimed the country had hit a U.S. warship with two missiles and stopped it entering the strait. The U.S. said the claim was false. “No US Navy ships have been struck,” it insisted.
Competing claims
The U.S. military said it destroyed seven Iranian vessels in the strait. Trump wrote on Truth Social that American forces had shot down seven small boats, which he said were all Iran had left. Iran denies that any small boats were destroyed.
Admiral Brad Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command, acknowledged continuing interference from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. “The IRGC has launched multiple cruise missiles, drones, and small boats at ships we are protecting,” he said. “We have defeated each and every one of those threats through the clinical application of defensive munitions.” Cooper declined to say where the April 8 U.S.-Iran ceasefire now stands.
Washington said two American-flagged merchant vessels have passed through the strait since Project Freedom began, an effort to clear what it calls an Iranian blockade. Iran denied that any such crossings happened. Maersk said its Alliance Fairfax, a U.S.-flagged vehicle carrier, left the Gulf through the strait on Monday with a U.S. military escort.
Ships and Gulf states hit
Seoul confirmed that a South Korean cargo ship was hit by an explosion and fire inside the strait. Twenty-four crew were aboard, six of them Korean nationals. Trump urged South Korea to join the mission: “Perhaps it’s time for South Korea to come and join the mission!”
The United Arab Emirates said it came under attack for the first time since the truce took hold in early April. An Iranian drone strike started a fire at a key oil facility, and fires were reported at the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone. The UAE said it intercepted three Iranian missiles. Britain’s UKMTO reported two ships hit off the Emirati coast. The UAE’s prime minister condemned the strikes.
Keir Starmer called for an end to the escalation and urged Iran to engage “meaningfully” in talks to keep the ceasefire alive.
Trump’s comments
Trump told Fox News earlier on Monday that Iran would be “blown off the face of the Earth” if it attacked U.S. vessels in the strait. By evening he said the war was “going very well” and repeated that Iran must not get a nuclear weapon.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has urged China to step up its diplomacy with Iran so shipping can resume. Trump and Xi Jinping plan to discuss the subject when they meet next week.
