A commercial vessel came under attack by small watercraft in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday as the United States launched Project Freedom, a military-backed navigation initiative aimed at guiding stranded ships out of the blocked waterway — and Iran warned the operation breaches the fragile ceasefire in place since April 8.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations Centre reported the bulk carrier came under attack approximately 11 nautical miles west of Sirik, Iran, at around 11:30 a.m. UTC Monday. The crew reported no injuries, and no environmental damage was noted. No group immediately claimed responsibility.
The attack came hours after US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced the formal launch of Project Freedom, deploying guided-missile destroyers, more than 100 land- and sea-based aircraft, multi-domain unmanned platforms, and 15,000 service members to support commercial shipping through the strait. Admiral Brad Cooper, the CENTCOM commander, said the mission was essential to both regional security and the global economy, and would run alongside the existing US naval blockade of Iranian ports in effect since April 13.
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Read: US Launches ‘Project Freedom’ to Escort Stranded Ships from Strait of Hormuz
But US officials moved quickly to clarify the scope of the operation. Two officials told Axios that Project Freedom does not constitute a traditional escort mission — US Navy ships will position themselves nearby while primarily providing commercial vessels with information on navigable lanes free of Iranian mines. This distinction is significant as Iran mined sections of the strait after the US and Israel launched strikes on February 28, and the US Navy began clearing those mines in mid-April.
President Donald Trump announced the initiative Sunday on Truth Social, framing it as a humanitarian response to requests from neutral countries whose vessels, crews, and cargo have been stranded in the strait for weeks. Trump warned that any interference with the mission would be met with a forceful response.
Iran’s government pushed back immediately. Senior Iranian official Ebrahim Azizi said Project Freedom violates the terms of the ceasefire, and Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei separately stated that mine-clearing by the US was “fundamentally not part of our plan.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Monday it was reviewing the US response to Tehran’s most recent peace proposal, a 14-point plan calling for sanctions relief, an end to the blockade, and a withdrawal of forces. Trump rejected the proposal over the weekend, calling it “not acceptable.”
The Strait of Hormuz has been effectively closed to most commercial shipping since late February, cutting off a corridor that carried roughly 25% of the world’s seaborne oil trade and 20% of global LNG supplies before hostilities began. US gasoline prices have climbed to $4.45 per gallon — up nearly 50% since the start of the war — and fertilizer prices have surged 87% this year, threatening food supply chains globally.
Trump claimed on Sunday that his representatives were engaged in “very positive discussions” with Iranian officials that could produce a broader resolution to the conflict, though no timeline or framework has been made public.
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