Donald Trump sends warships to break Iran’s strait of Hormuz blockade | US-Israel war on Iran
The USA, together with Donald Trump’s crew, launched an operation to open a route through the Strait of Hormuz to hundreds of ships stranded in the Gulf. This move brought the region to the brink of all-out war at a time when Iran was trying to reimpose the blockade.
The US operation, which began Monday after Trump announced it as “Project Freedom” on his social media site Sunday night, has dramatically escalated the tide of a conflict that has been in uneasy limbo for a month.
Speaking hours after the operation began, the head of the operation US Central Command(Centcom), Admiral Brad Cooper said US forces destroyed six Iranian small boats and captured both Iranian cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles. He “strongly advised” Iranian forces to stay away from US military assets in the region, which include guided missile destroyers, more than 100 land- and sea-based aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles and 15,000 troops.
Iran immediately denied the claim. In a day of alternating claims and counterclaims, he also denied Centcom’s claim that two US-flagged merchant ships “successfully passed” through the strait, while US Navy guided missile destroyers passed in the opposite direction, moved west and began patrolling the Gulf.
Speaking at a news conference where the standoff became more volatile and dangerous, Trump downplayed the tensions, saying Iran “opened a few shots” but caused no damage other than damage to a South Korean cargo ship that reported an unexplained explosion and fire.
As oil prices soared amid renewed hostilities, Trump said on his Truth Social platform, “There has been no damage whatsoever, other than the South Korean Ship passing through the Strait at this time.”
Iran, whose military central command warned that it would open fire on any US navy ship approaching the strait, had previously claimed that it had hit a US frigate in the region with two missiles.
Late Sunday, after Trump’s announcement, a tanker reportedly shot by “unknown bullets”. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) later said that MV Barakah, an oil tanker operated by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, came under an Iranian drone attack off the coast of Oman. It was stated that no one was injured.
The UAE defense ministry said it intercepted three missiles fired by Iran over its territorial waters, while the fourth fell into the sea.
It is estimated that more than 850 ships have been stranded in the Gulf since February 28, when the USA and Israel launched their attack on Iran. Iran soon imposed a blockade on foreign ships using the Strait of Hormuz, and Trump imposed a blockade on ships using Iranian ports on April 13. The Pakistan-brokered ceasefire that Trump announced in early April halted the fighting but failed to open the strait.
An estimated 20,000 seafarers are stranded on tankers, bulk carriers, container ships and other vessels, and there are growing concerns about their welfare. The US-initiated operation does not include military escorts, but is aimed at providing coordination and guidance for commercial shipping along the southern route of the strait, mostly through Omani territorial waters.
Shipping executives responded cautiously to the move due to uncertainty about how or whether it would work. Vanmar Shipping and Hong Kong Shipowners Association President Richard Hext stated that Iran had previously declared that the unapproved passage of the strait would be considered a “violation of the ceasefire” agreed last month.
“We have to be careful under these circumstances,” Hext told CNN.
International reaction was also cautious. French President Emmanuel Macron said the only way to reopen the Strait of Hormuz is “in a coordinated manner by the United States and Iran.” Speaking at a meeting of European leaders in Armenia, Macron added: “We will not take part in any military operations within a framework that seems vague to me.”
Explaining the project on Truth Social, Trump said that countries had appealed to the United States for help in removing their ships from the strait and that the United States would make “best efforts” to do so. Giving no details on how this would be achieved, the president presented it as a humanitarian gesture “on behalf of the United States, the Middle Eastern Countries, and especially the Country of Iran.”
“I told my representatives to let them know that we will do our best to get their Ships and Crews out of the Bosphorus safely. In any case, they said they will not return until the area is safe for navigation and everything else,” Trump said.
He added: “If this humanitarian process is to be interfered with in any way, it will unfortunately have to be intervened forcefully.”
On Monday morning, the US-led military organization Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) said the US had established an “enhanced security area” south of pre-war shipping lanes across the strait. JMIC said the route would take ships through Omani territorial waters, and due to the high traffic expected, ship operators were told to coordinate with Omani authorities via radio.
Ships were advised to avoid sailing in or near ordinary shipping lanes, which “must be considered extremely dangerous owing to the presence of mines that have not been fully investigated and mitigated.”
Iran’s military command insisted that passing ships must coordinate with them.
“We will manage the security of the Strait of Hormuz with all our might and inform all commercial ships and tankers to avoid any attempt to pass without coordination so as not to endanger the security of Iranian armed forces deployed in the Strait of Hormuz,” Major General Ali Abdullahi said, according to Mehr news agency.
Earlier, Abdullahi said Iran would attack “any foreign armed forces” that try to approach or enter the strait, “especially the aggressive US military.”
