An officer aboard USS Tripoli oversees flight operations from the control tower as the amphibious assault ship sails in the Arabian Sea. U.S. warships and aircraft deployed to the Middle East are enforcing the naval blockade against Iran while executing Project Freedom to support the free flow of commerce through the Strait of Hormuz. (U.S. Navy)
ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. mission to protect commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz is temporary, and the ceasefire in the war with Iran is not over, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.
“Ultimately, this is a separate and distinct project, and we expected there would be some churn at the beginning,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a news conference at the Pentagon. “We said we would defend and defend aggressively, and we absolutely have.”
More than 22,500 mariners on more than 1,500 commercial ships are waiting to transit the strait, said Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Iran has fired at commercial vessels nine times, seized two container ships and attacked U.S. forces 10 times since the ceasefire was announced last month, Caine said. He said the attacks all fall “below the threshold” for greater hostilities.
“Project Freedom is defensive in nature, focused in scope and temporary in duration. American forces won’t need to enter Iranian waters or airspace. It’s not necessary,” Hegseth said. “To Iran, let innocent ships pass freely.”
“Right now, we know we have a lane of safe passage that commercial shipping can flow through,” he said.
The secretary said this mission is separate from Operation Epic Fury, the name for the U.S. campaign against Iran, but he did not answer follow‑up questions seeking clarity.
Iran launched multiple cruise missiles, drones and small attack boats at commercial ships and some U.S. Navy vessels, CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper said in a news briefing on Monday. Apache and Seahawk helicopters were used to sink six small Iranian boats on Monday morning, he said.
“U.S. forces are helping the international community in restoring the flow of global commerce,” Cooper said. “The [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps], on the other hand, is doing everything it can to terrorize and threaten commercial shipping.”
Caine and Hegseth said the fast boats Iran used to try to attack the vessels were using small arms, rifles or machine guns, but that Iran also fired small coastal cruise missiles at the ships.
The U.S. Navy is providing cover for commercial ships as part of Project Freedom, the effort announced Sunday by President Donald Trump to protect vessels moving through the strait and restore freedom of navigation. The operation comes as discussions to end the war with Iran remain underway.
Trump says the war could last another two to three weeks.
“We’ve taken out much of what we’d have to do, probably another two weeks, two weeks, maybe three weeks. And time is not of the essence for us,” the president told conservative political commentator Hugh Hewitt on Tuesday.
Cooper said there are ships from 87 countries in the Persian Gulf seeking passage through the strait, which has been virtually blocked by Iran since joint Israeli-U.S. strikes began on Feb. 28.
Iran on Monday launched three attacks on the United Arab Emirates and one on Oman, Caine said.
“Thus far, today is quieter,” the chairman added.
Iranian officials on Tuesday accused the U.S. of violating the ceasefire and warned of it becoming bogged down in the war, now in its third month.
Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said a “new equation” in the strait is “in the process of being solidified,” in a post on X on Tuesday.
“We know full well that the continuation of the status quo is intolerable for America; while we have not even begun yet,” he added.
Since the war began, 13 American personnel have died and at least 402 have been wounded, according to Defense Manpower Data Center figures.
