At least two American-flagged commercial ships successfully sailed through the Strait of Hormuz as U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) launched operation “Project Freedom” to restore freedom of navigation through the narrow waterway.
CENTCOM on Monday morning announced that “Navy guided-missile destroyers are currently operating in the Arabian Gulf after transiting the Strait of Hormuz in support of Project Freedom.”
“American forces are actively assisting efforts to restore transit for commercial shipping,” CENTCOM posted on X. “As a first step, 2 U.S.-flagged merchant vessels have successfully transited through the Strait of Hormuz and are safely headed on their journey.”
The operation is being conducted while maintaining a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, crippling Tehran’s oil and gas exports. “Our support for this defensive mission is essential to regional security and the global economy as we also maintain the naval blockade,” CENTCOM commander, Adm. Brad Cooper, said in a statement on Sunday.
The operation “Project Freedom” kicked off after President Trump announced a humanitarian mission to guide stranded ships and sailors through the strategic waterway.
The U.S. was acting in response to requests made by “Countries from all over the World,” he posted on Truth on Sunday, “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!”
The U.S. “will guide their Ships safely out of these restricted Waterways, so that they can freely and ably get on with their business,” the president assured.
“This process, Project Freedom, will begin Monday morning, Middle East time. 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,” he added.
The operation is being conducted amid repeated Iranian threats. Blocking the Hormuz Strait is Iran’s main “tool to pressure the enemy,” the regime’s new ‘Supreme Leader,’ Mojtaba Khamenei, said in his first public statement on March 12.
With its trump card slipping away, Tehran is renewing its threats against the U.S. and has reportedly attacked a UAE-owned tanker. “Iran has threatened to attack any vessel that tries to transit the strait without its permission, and the UAE said Monday that a state-owned energy company’s vessel was targeted by drones in an “Iranian terrorist attack,” CBS News reported Monday.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed it fired “warning shots” at U.S. naval ships entering the Strait on Monday, a claim CENTCOM denied.
The IRGC also relayed its threat on the Iranian state media. “This is a serious warning from the naval forces of the IRGC,” the regime-run broadcaster FARS declared. “The Strait of Hormuz remains closed, and passage through it without the permission of the Islamic Republic of Iran and outside the designated route is prohibited.”
Amid Iranian threats, President Trump warned that the regime will be “blown off the face of the earth” if it attacks US ships.
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