On April 28, 2026, U.S. Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard the M/V Bluestar III, a commercial vessel suspected of attempting to transit to Iran in violation of the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports. The U.S. military released the ship after conducting a search and confirming that the ship’s voyage did not include a port call in Iran.
U.S. Marine Corps | Centcom
U.S. Central Command on Monday denied Iranian state media reports that a U.S. warship transiting the Strait of Hormuz was hit by two missiles and forced to retreat.
Centcom, the U.S. military command in charge of the Middle East, said in a post from the official X account that “no U.S. Navy ships were attacked.”
“The US military is supporting Project Freedom and implementing a naval blockade of Iranian ports,” Centcom said.
“Project Freedom” refers to a new US effort to “free” ships stranded as a result of Iran’s de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz was a major chokepoint in the war, through which around 20% of the world’s oil was transported before the conflict began.
President Donald Trump announced the operation in a Truth social post Sunday night, saying the effort would begin Monday morning.
CENTCOM said in a separate X-post Monday morning that a U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer is “currently operating in the Arabian Gulf after transiting the Strait of Hormuz in support of Project Freedom.”
“The U.S. military is actively supporting efforts to restore commercial shipping. As a first step, two U.S.-flagged commercial vessels have successfully passed through the Strait of Hormuz and are safely on their way to sea,” Centcom wrote.
This appears to further contradict Iran’s Fars news agency, which reported earlier Monday that a U.S. Navy ship was hit twice as it tried to navigate the strait.
The ship, identified as a US frigate in a Google-translated social media post, was attacked “after ignoring warnings from the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Navy,” Fars News Agency, which is affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, said in a statement.
Fars news agency said the ship was “unable to continue its route due to these collisions and was forced to retreat and flee the area.”
Since the United States and Israel began a war on February 28, Iran has blocked most tanker traffic through the strait. The de facto shutdown has caused a historic energy supply shock, causing a spike in prices and increasing uncertainty in global markets.
Despite an uneasy ceasefire between the United States and Iran, shipping traffic remains low and peace talks have so far eluded any breakthrough.
Amid the temporary ceasefire, President Trump ordered a U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports in the region in mid-April, aiming to pressure Iran into a deal by blocking Iranian oil export operations. But experts told CNBC that Iran could hold out for several months.
In a post on Truth Social Sunday night, President Trump said the United States has told countries not involved in the war that “we will safely guide ships out of these restricted waterways and allow them to conduct their business freely and competently.”
His post seemed to acknowledge that the operation could further strain diplomatic efforts with Iran.
“The Ship Movement is simply about liberating people, businesses, and countries who have done nothing wrong. They are victims of circumstance,” Trump wrote.
But he added: “If in any way this humanitarian process is disrupted, unfortunately that disruption will have to be strongly addressed.”
