WASHINGTON, May 5, 2026 — The U.S. operation guiding vessels through the Strait of Hormuz is only a temporary solution, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday, after Iranian vessels fired on U.S. ships a day earlier and the Navy sank several small Iranian boats in response.
Iran cannot be allowed to block innocent countries and their goods from an international waterway, Hegseth said, while later adding that the ceasefire is not over.
The clash came during one of the most dangerous stretches yet in a war that began in late February and has left the Strait of Hormuz largely closed since then. The waterway normally carries around 20% of the world's oil, making every exchange there a threat well beyond the immediate fight.
Gen. Dan Caine said Iran had attacked the U.S. more than 10 times since the April 8 ceasefire, but said those strikes had fallen below the threshold for restarting major combat operations. He said the forces involved in the mission include 15,000 American service members, guided missile destroyers and other warships that are detecting and defeating Iranian threats, plus 100 attack aircraft and other unmanned aircraft being synchronized by the 82nd Airborne Division.
Two U.S. Navy destroyers transited the strait on Monday, along with two U.S.-flagged commercial vessels sailing as part of Project Freedom. U.S. Central Command said Monday that six Iranian boats tried to interfere with the commercial vessels the Navy was guiding through the strait and were destroyed. Mr. Trump later said seven ships were destroyed.
The Iranian news agency IRNA rejected the assertion that any fast boats were destroyed. Mr. Trump told News on Monday that Iran will be blown off the face of the Earth if the country interferes in the strait, while Iran has warned that U.S. forces will be attacked if they enter it.
Hegseth said Project Freedom is separate and distinct from Operation Epic Fury, underscoring that Washington is trying to keep the sea lane open without turning the escort mission into a wider escalation. The tension is visible in the numbers and the language: the U.S. says the ceasefire is still holding, Iran says American forces should stay out, and both sides are still firing around one of the world's most important shipping routes.
Monday's violence was not limited to the strait. Iran also fired at targets in the United Arab Emirates and at a tanker owned by the Abu Dhabi state energy company, prompting the UAE to say there is no military solution to the war. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said talks between the two countries are making progress, but warned the U.S. and the UAE to be wary of being dragged back into quagmire by ill-wishers.
The longer-term question now is whether the fragile ceasefire can survive while the U.S. escorts ships through the strait and Iran keeps testing the line. For now, Washington is treating Project Freedom as a temporary bridge — one meant to keep oil moving and keep the ceasefire intact until something more durable emerges.