The US military has announced that it battled Iranian forces and sank six small boats as it moved to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Breaking Iran’s chokehold on the strait would ease global economic concerns and deny Tehran a major source of leverage. However, such efforts also risk reigniting the full-scale fighting that erupted when the US and Israel first attacked Iran on February 28, prompting it to close the strait.

Iran’s effective closure of the strait, which runs between Iran and Oman, has caused a spike in worldwide fuel prices and rattled the global economy. The US-led Joint Maritime Information Center had advised ships to cross the strait in Oman’s waters, saying it had set up an “enhanced security area.”

Adm. Brad Cooper, Commander of US Central Command, told reporters that American forces have successfully opened a passage through the strait that is free of Iranian mines.

He said that Iran launched multiple cruise missiles, drones and small boats at civilian ships under the US military’s protection. He noted that US military helicopters sank six of the small boats, adding that “each and every” threat had been defeated.

“The US Commanders who are on the scene have all the authority necessary to defend their unit and to defend commercial shipping — as we saw and demonstrated earlier today.”
Brad Cooper

Trump also announced the sinking of the ships in a social media post.

“Iran has taken some shots at unrelated Nations with respect to the Ship Movement, PROJECT FREEDOM, including a South Korean Cargo Ship… We’ve shot down seven small Boats or, as they like to call them, “fast” Boats. It’s all they have left.”
Donald Trump

Trump had warned earlier that Iranian efforts to halt passage through the strait “will, unfortunately, have to be dealt with forcefully.” He described “Project Freedom” in humanitarian terms, designed to aid stranded seafarers on hundreds of ships that have been stuck in the Persian Gulf since the war began. Iran’s state-run news agency called the effort part of Trump’s “delirium.”

UAE Comes Under Attack From Iran

The United Arab Emirates, a key American ally, said that it had come under attack from Iran for the first time since a fragile ceasefire took hold in early April.

The UAE Defense Ministry said that Iran had launched four cruise missiles, with three shot down and one falling into the sea. Authorities in the eastern emirate of Fujairah said an Iranian drone sparked a fire at a key oil facility, wounding three Indian nationals.

The British military reported two cargo vessels ablaze off the UAE. The South Korean government said an explosion and fire had broken out aboard a South Korean-operated ship anchored in the strait off the UAE. No injuries were reported. It was not immediately known if the vessel was one of the burning ships reported by the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center.

The UAE condemned what it called “renewed treacherous Iranian aggression” and called for an immediate halt to the attacks. Four missile alerts were issued, urging UAE residents to find shelter — the first such alerts since the ceasefire began nearly a month ago. Commercial planes bound for the UAE, home to the global travel hubs of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, turned around midair.

The extent of the attack on Fujairah was unclear, but it is the terminus of a pipeline the UAE has used to avoid shipping some of its oil through the strait. The emirate on the Gulf of Oman is home to extensive oil storage facilities and is the UAE’s main sea access outside the strait.

The UAE’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on X, “These attacks represent a dangerous escalation and an unacceptable violation.”

The UAE accused Iran of targeting a tanker linked to its main oil company with two drones as it navigated the strait. It did not say when the attack occurred. No injuries were reported.