JERUSALEM, Israel – The month-long U.S-Iranian ceasefire is on shaky ground after Iran attacked ships in the Strait of Hormuz and fired missiles at the United Arab Emirates.
Tehran claimed it struck a U.S. Navy vessel near the Strait on Monday, a claim the U.S. has denied. U.S. officials charged that Iran launched missiles, drones, and small boats on Monday at ships being protected by the United States.
As a result, U.S. CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper announced a retaliation by the military.
“The (Iranian) cruise missiles were going after both U.S. Navy ships, but mostly after commercial shipping. We defended both ourselves, and consistent with our commitment, we defended all the commercial ships,” Cooper stated.
The trouble began after President Trump said over the weekend that the U.S. would defend some cargo ships and tankers stranded outside the Strait in a move called “Project Freedom.”
The president posted on Truth Social, “We will guide their ships safely out of these restricted waterways so that they can freely and ably get on with their business.”
The U.S. revealed that it safely guided two American-flagged ships through the Strait.
Iran said it fired warning shots and released a video of the attack, claiming all shipping had to be approved by Iran. In a post on X, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that Tehran would turn “Project Freedom into Project Deadlock.”
Iran also fired missiles at the U.A.E. on Monday in the most blatant violation of the ceasefire to date. The U.A.E. Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the attack, calling it “renewed Iranian aggression using missiles and drones,” and charging that it targeted civilian sites, representing a dangerous escalation of the conflict.
The U.A.E. Defense Ministry announced it had engaged 15 missiles and four drones. One drone sparked a fire at a key oil facility.
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Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system shot down one of the Iranian projectiles. Israel had sent a battery to the U.A.E., along with soldiers to operate the system at the beginning of the war, according to Axios.
An Iranian spokesman said on Monday that talks with the U.S. are focusing entirely on ending the war and Tehran’s uranium enrichment program, and that other nuclear materials are not on the table.
Addressing small business leaders on Monday, President Trump compared the six-week war with Iran to the 19 years of U.S. involvement in Vietnam and other long wars.
He asserted, “Our country is booming now, despite the fact that we’re in a – I call it a mini war – because that’s all they are.”
He argued that America needed to take a detour into the current war despite record business deals. He added that the Iranian military has been degraded.
“They have no Navy. They have no Air Force. They have no anti-aircraft equipment. They have no radar. They have no nothing,” he declared.
He continued, “They have no leaders, actually. The leaders, the leaders happen to be gone also. But can’t let them have a nuclear weapon, or you’re going to have, you have problems like nobody would believe.”
Meanwhile, Israel continues to be on high alert, ready for a full-blown resumption of hostilities after Trump’s warning that Iran would be “blown off the face of the earth” if it hits U.S. ships.
