US says Iran ceasefire holding despite strait tensions
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said that the ceasefire with Iran is not over yet, despite the US and Iran exchanging fire in the Gulf while fighting for control of the Strait of Hormuz.
Hegseth said the United States had successfully opened a path in the critical waterway and hundreds of merchant ships were lining up to pass as U.S. forces sought to break the stranglehold Iran has exerted on the Strait of Hormuz since the conflict began on Feb. 28.
“We know the Iranians are embarrassed by this situation. They said they control the strait. They don’t,” Hegseth said at a press conference held at the Pentagon.
Chief of Staff Gen. Cain details on “Project Freedom” pic.twitter.com/5gdIXjtLSe — CSPAN (@cspan) May 5, 2026
The US military said it sank six small Iranian boats and intercepted Iranian cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles after US President Donald Trump sent the navy to escort tankers stranded in the Strait of Hormuz as part of a campaign he called “Project Freedom”.
Several commercial ships in the Gulf reported explosions or fires on Monday, and an oil port in the United Arab Emirates that hosts a major US military base was set ablaze by Iranian missiles.
Chief of Staff General Dan Caine said Iran has opened fire on commercial ships nine times and seized two container ships since the ceasefire was declared on April 7.
He said Iran attacked US forces more than 10 times.
But Caine told reporters that the attacks fell “below the threshold for resuming major combat operations at this point.”
When asked whether the ceasefire with Iran still continues, Hegseth said, “The ceasefire is not over yet.”
“We said we would defend and defend aggressively, and we certainly did. Iran knows this, and ultimately the president can decide whether anything escalates into a violation of the ceasefire,” he said.
The operation is Trump’s latest effort to end the disruption to international energy supplies caused by Iran’s pre-war blockade of the strait, which carried one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas.
The US navy also maintains a naval blockade of Iran; This prevents ships from going to Iran or leaving Iranian territory.
