Summary

The US military said two US Navy guided-missile destroyers had entered the Gulf to break an Iranian blockade and that two US merchant ships had transited the Strait of Hormuz, after Iran said it had prevented a US warship entering the Gulf. US Central Command (CENTCOM) said its forces were supporting President Donald Trump's "Project Freedom", which aims to "guide out" commercial ships stranded in the Gulf by the US-Israeli war on Iran, and were enforcing a blockade of Iranian ports. The intervention appeared to raise the risk of a direct confrontation between the US and Iran in a waterway that usually carries a fifth of the world's seaborne oil and gas but has been blocked for two months as a result of the war. CENTCOM said two US-flagged merchant vessels had crossed through the strait as the US destroyers operated in the Gulf, adding: "American forces are actively assisting efforts to restore transit for commercial shipping." Earlier, Tehran said it had forced a US warship to turn back from the Strait of Hormuz, although CENTCOM quickly denied a report by Iran's semi-official Fars news agency that two missiles had hit the ship near the Iranian port of Jask. A senior Iranian official told Reuters Iran had fired a warning shot and that it was unclear whether the warship had been damaged. Oil prices had jumped 5 percent on reports of the warship being turned back, but later gave up half of that. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News that the US had absolute control of the strait. But the shipping industry remains to be convinced that the vital oil route, whose closure has damaged global business and trade, is safe to use, with little sign of progress towards a negotiated resolution of Washington's conflict with Iran. Iran's navy said it had prevented "American-Zionist" warships entering the Strait area with a "swift and decisive warning". Trump gave few details of his plan to aid ships and their crews who have been confined to the Gulf and are running low on food and other supplies. "We have told these Countries that we will guide their Ships safely out of these restricted Waterways, so that they can freely and ably get on with their business," he said in a post on his Truth Social site on Sunday. In response, Iran's unified command told commercial ships and oil tankers: "We have repeatedly said the security of the Strait of Hormuz is in our hands and that the safe passage of vessels needs to be coordinated with the armed forces... "We warn that any foreign armed forces, especially the aggressive US Army, will be attacked if they intend to approach and enter the Strait of Hormuz." Iran has blocked nearly all shipping into and out of the Gulf apart from its own since the start of the war, sending oil prices soaring by 50 percent or more. CENTCOM said it would support Trump's "Project Freedom" with 15,000 military personnel and more than 100 land- and sea-based aircraft, plus warships and drones. It was not immediately clear how the operation would work. (Reuters) Edited by Edmond Fong