US says Iran ceasefire holds despite exchange of fire over Strait of Hormuz
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday that the ceasefire with Iran was not over, even as the U.S. and Iran exchanged fire in the Gulf as they wrestled for control of the Strait of Hormuz.
Hegseth said the U.S. had successfully secured a path through the critical waterway and that hundreds of commercial ships were lining up to pass through, as Washington seeks to break a chokehold Iran has asserted on the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation to U.S. and Zionist attacks.
The U.S. military says it sank six Iranian small boats and intercepted Iranian cruise missiles and drones, after President Donald Trump sent the navy to escort stranded tankers through the Strait of Hormuz in a day-old campaign he called “Project Freedom.”
Asked whether the ceasefire with Iran still held, Hegseth said: “No, the ceasefire is not over.”
“We said we would defend and defend aggressively, and we absolutely have. Iran knows that, and ultimately, the president can make a decision whether anything were to escalate into a violation of a ceasefire,” he said.
The operation is Trump’s latest effort to force an end to the disruption of international energy supplies caused by Iran’s blockade of the strait, which carried a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas before the war.
The U.S. Navy is also enforcing a maritime blockade of Iran, which prevents ships from going to Iran or departing Iranian territory.
The two military operations seek to pressure Iran to strike a deal to end the conflict on Trump’s terms. But Iran has countered that there is no military solution to the crisis, and it has threatened to fight for as long as necessary.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, moreover, said peace talks were progressing with Pakistan’s mediation, and warned the U.S. and the UAE against being drawn into a “quagmire.” He was travelling to Beijing on Tuesday for talks with his Chinese counterpart, his ministry said.
Iranian authorities released a map of what they said was an expanded maritime area now under Iranian control, stretching beyond the strait to include sections of the UAE coastline.
The Iranian map included Fujairah and another Emirati port, Khorfakkan, both on the Gulf of Oman which the UAE has relied on since the start of the conflict to bypass the blocked strait.
