On Sunday, President Donald Trump announced that the US would start escorting vessels through the Strait of Hormuz in an initiative he called “Project Freedom.”
The operation, which commenced yesterday, has already resulted in the departure of at least two US-flagged ships from the waterway, alongside an increase in tensions between Iran and the US along with its allies.
Following the announcement of the mission, a senior Iranian military figure cautioned that “any foreign military presence, particularly the invading American forces … will face attacks” if they attempt to get close to or enter the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s navy announced yesterday that it blocked US vessels from entering the strait, as reported by Iranian state media. At the same time, US Central Command (CENTCOM) refuted Iranian state media’s assertion that an Iranian missile hit a US vessel close to the strait.
The United Arab Emirates denounced what it termed an “Iranian terrorist attack” that aimed at a tanker from the state oil company ADNOC attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz yesterday, while an explosion occurred on another South Korea-related ship in the strait.
Yesterday, CENTCOM declared that two US-flagged merchant ships successfully navigated the Strait of Hormuz, although Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) refuted this occurrence.
The Danish shipping and logistics firm Maersk announced that one of its vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz with the protection of the US military yesterday, stating that all crew members are “safe and unharmed.”
Xenix News Laura Sharman, Tim Lister, Michael Williams, Sarah Tamimi, Nadeen Ebrahim, Gawon Bae, Mustafa Qadri, Mohammed Tawfeeq, and Max Saltman were involved in this reporting.
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