Iran claimed Monday to have struck an American naval vessel on the first day of a bid by Washington to force open the Strait of Hormuz to global shipping.
US Central Command denied the claim on social media, saying on X: “No US Navy ships have been struck. US forces are supporting Project Freedom and enforcing the naval blockade on Iranian ports.”
The semiofficial Fars News Agency, which has close ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), had alleged an unidentified US ship was hit by two missiles near the port of Jask after ignorning orders to halt.
President Trump announced on Truth Social Sunday that the US would “guide” ships out of the strait under an initiative called Project Freedom, warning that Iranian efforts to block them “will, unfortunately, have to be dealt with forcefully.”
Iran responded by warning that any ships attempting to pass through the waterway must coordinate with them first, and that any effort to force open the strait would be resisted.
“We warn that any foreign military force — especially the aggressive US military — that intends to approach or enter the Strait of Hormuz will be targeted,” Major General Pilot Ali Abdollahi told state broadcaster IRIB.
Meanwhile, the US has told shipping companies they could face sanctions for paying Iran to pass through the strait and has enacted a naval blockade on Iranian ports since April 13.
As of Sunday, 49 commercial ships had been forced to turn back by the embargo, according to CENTCOM.
White House officials have publicly said they hope the blockade helps bring Iran back to the negotiating table, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent predicting Sunday that Tehran was “going to have to start shutting in wells, which we think could be in the next week” due to the Islamic Republic’s oil storage facilities filling up.
Caught between the two warring nations, hundreds of vessels have opted to simply remain in place and try to wait the conflict out.
According to the International Maritime Organization, up to 20,000 crew members have been stranded on about 2,000 vessels — including oil and gas tankers, cargo vessels and cruise liners — in the Strait of Hormuz since the US and Israel began strikes on Iran Feb. 28.
“There is no precedent for the stranding of so many seafarers in the modern age,” Damien Chevallier, director of the IMO’s maritime safety division, told reporteres March 31.
On Monday, the US-led Joint Maritime Information Center advised ships to cross the strait via Oman’s territorial waters, saying it had set up an “enhanced security area.”
The center also warned vessel masters that attempting to use the usual routes “should be considered extremely hazardous due the presence of mines that have not been fully surveyed and mitigated.”
The American military has said the initiative might involve guided-missile destroyers, more than 100 aircraft and 15,000 service members but has not specified what kind of assistance or escorts it would provide ships.
