Live Updates: Iran targets UAE tanker in Strait of Hormuz as U.S. begins Project Freedom to guide vessels

Wall Street dipped and oil prices jumped early Monday as Iran launched a new attack on a commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz and the country's state media said Iranian forces fired warning shots at U.S. warships near the entrance to the waterway.

Futures for the S&P 500 were down 0.2% before the opening bell, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.5%. Nasdaq futures dipped 0.1%.

Oil prices initially jumped 5% after Iranian media claimed a U.S. ship had been hit by Iranian missiles, but after U.S. Central Command denied the report, prices rebounded slightly, though they were still up between 2% and 3%.

The price of a barrel of U.S. benchmark crude was up $2.18 at $104.12 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, jumped $3.06 to $111.23 a barrel. 

Project Freedom, a U.S. military initiative to help guide ships safely through the strait, got underway Monday, and CENTCOM said two commercial vessels had transited the narrow shipping lane under the guises of the program, along with U.S. Naval destroyers, but it offered no further detail.

The United Arab Emirates government said a tanker was targeted by two Iranian drones Monday in the strait. It was not clear if the vessel had attempted to ensure safe passage in coordination with the U.S. military's Project Freedom. Nobody was injured in the attack, the UAE said.

There were unconfirmed reports that a South Korean commercial vessel may also have been targeted in the strait on Monday.

CBS/AP

Egypt and the Gulf Cooperation Council of six Arab Persian Gulf nations condemned Iran's latest attack on a commercial vessel in the region Monday, which saw a UAE-owned tanker targeted by two Iranian drones.

Egypt said in a statement that it "denounces the blatant attack that targeted a UAE tanker while it was passing through the Strait of Hormuz," calling it a "blatant violation of the principles of international law, which affirm and guarantee freedom of international navigation."

In a separate statement, Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), "condemned, in the strongest terms, the treacherous attacks that targeted an Emirati tanker belonging to Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) while it was passing through the Strait of Hormuz."

"These brutal Iranian attacks, targeting ships passing through the Strait, constitutes piracy and a serious threat to the security of maritime routes and straits, and represents a flagrant violation of the relevant Security Council resolutions," Albudaiwi said. 

The UAE said earlier that the ADNOC vessel was targeted in the strait but that there were no injuries. It did not say whether the tanker sustained any damage, and it remained unclear whether the vessel had sought to coordinate its passage through the waterway via the new Project Freedom initiative being led by the U.S. military.

Iran's Fars news agency, which is associated with the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guard, said Monday that forces launched "cruise missile warning shots" at U.S. Navy destroyers nearing the entrance of the Strait of Hormuz in the Sea of Oman.

U.S. Central Command earlier rejected a claim by Fars, citing local media, that a U.S. frigate had been struck by missiles. 

CENTCOM did not elaborate, but it said U.S. warships had transited the strait as part of "efforts to restore transit for commercial shipping" through the waterway under the Project Freedom initiative announced by President Trump.

The U.S. military also said two American-flagged commercial vessels had transited the strait under the guises of the project, but there was no further information provided on those journeys or how they were supported or guided by U.S. forces.

Fars said Iranian forces first warned the U.S. destroyers verbally, and then "issued a further warning by firing cruise missile warning shots, rockets, and combat drones near the hostile vessels."

The U.S. military did not immediately confirm or deny ships in the Persian Gulf region being subjected to warning fire by Iranian forces.

The U.S. military's Central Command said Monday that forces were "actively assisting efforts to restore transit for commercial shipping" through the Strait of Hormuz, and that Navy destroyers and two U.S.-flagged commercial vessels had safely transited the vital waterway as part of those efforts.

"U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers are currently operating in the Arabian Gulf after transiting the Strait of Hormuz in support of Project Freedom," CENTCOM said in a brief social media post. "As a first step, 2 U.S.-flagged merchant vessels have successfully transited through the Strait of Hormuz and are safely headed on their journey."

The post did not make it clear whether the U.S.-flagged commercial ships were escorted by the American destroyers or guided by some other means.

The leader of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah has reiterated the group's rejection of an ongoing ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon that was brokered by the U.S. 

"There is no ceasefire in Lebanon, but rather continuous Israeli-American aggression," declared Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem in a written statement Monday, vowing that Hezbollah — a U.S.- and Israeli-designated terrorist group — would "remain patient and continue to resist."

The Hezbollah chief argued that Israel "has not implemented a single step of the agreement, violating it more than 10,000 times, killing 500 civilians, wounding hundreds, destroying thousands of homes and livelihoods, and displacing people from their villages."

Israel's on-and-off war with Hezbollah escalated dramatically two days after Israel and the U.S. launched their joint strikes on Iran on Feb. 28. A barrage of Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon and around the capital Beirut was followed by an ongoing ground invasion. 

Israeli officials say while they are not seeking to permanently annex part of Lebanon, forces will occupy a "security zone" in the country's south, along the Israeli border, indefinitely, until the Hezbollah threat is removed, and that residents will not be allowed to return to their homes south of a declared "yellow line" until then. 

"There is no yellow line or buffer zone, and there will not be," declared Qassem on Monday, accusing Israel of trying to seize land by force. "With our faith and our exclusive choice of reclaiming and liberating our land and refusing surrender, we will certainly succeed in confronting it."

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported clashes on Monday between Hezbollah and Israeli forces in the south.

Israel and Hezbollah have regularly accused each other of violating the ceasefire since it came into effect more than three weeks ago, with both sides claiming to be attacking the other in self defense.

Lebanese authorities say the Israeli operations have killed more than 2,600 people and forced more than 1 million to flee their homes. At least 40 people have been killed in Israel by Iranian and Hezbollah missile and drone attacks since the war began at the end of February.

The government of the United Arab Emirates said Monday that a tanker owned by the Abu Dhabi state energy giant ADNOC was targeted by two drones as it attempted to transit the Strait of Hormuz, condemning "in the strongest terms" what it called an "Iranian terrorist attack."

Two drones targeted the carrier "affiliated with ADNOC as it transited through the Strait of Hormuz, with no injuries reported," the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, without providing any further details.

"The Ministry emphasized that targeting commercial shipping and using the Strait of Hormuz as a tool of economic coercion or blackmail represents acts of piracy by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, and constitutes a direct threat to the stability of the region, its peoples, and global energy security," the statement said.

It wasn't immediately clear whether the tanker, which was not identified by name, had made it through the strait, or if it had attempted to coordinate passage with the U.S. military or Omani authorities under the newly launched "Project Freedom."

President Trump said the project would see the U.S. military "guide" vessels through the waterway, but it wasn't clear exactly how that would be carried out. 

The U.S. military's Central Command said early Monday that it had established an "enhanced security area" south of the usual shipping routes through the strait, and it urged mariners to coordinate closely with Omani authorities "due to anticipated high traffic volume."

Pakistan said Monday it had facilitated the transfer of 22 crew members from a U.S.-seized Iranian vessel, describing the move as a "confidence-building measure" amid fragile diplomatic contacts between Washington and Tehran.

The sailors, who had been held aboard the container ship Touska, were flown into Islamabad late Sunday and were due to be handed over to Iranian authorities, according to a statement from Pakistan's foreign ministry.

Iranian state media said Monday that 15 crew members from the Touska had been "returned to Iran," but their whereabouts remained unconfirmed.

The handover comes amid a tense standoff in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman, where U.S. forces intercepted the Iranian-flagged cargo ship.

Iran condemned the ship's seizure as "piracy" and a violation of an April ceasefire and urged the United Nations to intervene.

Pakistan has positioned itself as a mediator between the U.S. and Iran, hosting the only round of direct talks between the two sides since the U.S. and Israel launched their joint war with Iran on Feb. 28. Islamabad has tried for weeks to orchestrate a second round of talks, but thus far the Trump administration has refused to accept Iran's demands for such negotiations, and Tehran says it won't talk until the U.S. blockade of its ports is lifted.

The transfer of the Touska crew was coordinated with both sides, Pakistan said, reflecting a rare instance of practical cooperation despite wider tensions over sanctions, shipping routes and regional security.

The vessel itself is expected to be returned after repairs. 

CBS/AFP

A spokesperson for the U.S. military's Central Command, Captain Tim Hawkins, told CBS News on Monday that claims by Iranian media outlets that an American warship had been struck by two missiles near the Strait of Hormuz were not true.

Hawkins did not provide any further detail, but he rejected the report by Iran's Fars news agency, which is associated with the Islamic Republic's Revolutionary Guard forces, that U.S. Navy frigate was struck on Monday amid an increasingly tense standoff between the countries in the Persian Gulf.

The U.S. military said it launched an operation Monday under the name "Project Freedom," under which President Trump says commercial vessels stuck in the Gulf can be guided out by the U.S. military via the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has warned that any ship trying to navigate the narrow strait without its explicit permission will be targeted.

CENTCOM later issued a brief statement on social media reiterating Hawkins' rejection of the Iranian report, saying: "No U.S. Navy ships have been struck. U.S. forces are supporting Project Freedom and enforcing the naval blockade on Iranian ports."

French President Emmanuel Macron has called on the U.S. and Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in a "coordinated" way, indicating that his country won't join an effort announced by President Trump to "guide" commercial vessels out of the Persian Gulf under the threat of Iranian attack.

"What we want above all is a coordinated reopening by the United States and Iran — that is the only solution for reopening the Strait of Hormuz," Macron told fellow European leaders during a meeting on Monday in Armenia.

"We are not going to take part in any military operation in a framework that to me seems unclear," he said.

France and the U.K. have led efforts to build a coalition of nations to deploy military assets to the region to ensure the strait remains open and safe for shipping once peace is secured, but European countries have declined to take up those efforts until a deal is reached to end the war.

Brigadier General Mohbi, a spokesman for Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, warned Monday that any vessel trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz without adhering to the regime's "transit protocols," which require coordination for passage "through designated routes with coordination," will "face serious risks."

"Violating vessels will be stopped with force," said Mohbi in a message shared by Iranian state media. 

It was the latest direct challenge from the Iranian regime to a plan announced by President Trump for a "humanitarian" military operation for American warships to "guide" commercial vessels out of the Persian Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz. 

Dozens of tankers and cargo ships have been stuck in the Gulf for months as Tehran, in retaliation for the joint U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, has declared the strait — long an open international waterway vital to the transport of gas and oil — under its control, and attacked ships that don't get its permission to use it. 

While an ongoing ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran has ended American strikes on the country, the U.S. has imposed a naval blockade of Iranian ports and vessels, which Tehran considers a breach of the truce. Iran has responded by maintaining its threat to commercial shipping, which has kept oil and gas prices high and fueled inflation around the globe.

The United States kicked off an effort to "guide" stranded ships from the Iran-gripped Strait of Hormuz, as it tries to counter economic disruptions that outlasted the peak of fighting with no peace deal in sight.

A day after President Trump announced what he called "Project Freedom," the Joint Maritime Information Center said Monday that the U.S. had set up an "enhanced security area" south of typical shipping routes and urged mariners to coordinate closely with Omani authorities "due to anticipated high traffic volume." The strait sits between Iranian and Omani territory.

The center warned that passing close to the usual routes, known as the traffic separation scheme, "should be considered extremely hazardous due the presence of mines that have not been fully surveyed and mitigated."

The U.S.-led maritime task force's announcement marked the start of the effort to revive traffic and restore confidence among commercial vessels transiting the strait.

The disruption of the waterway through which roughly one‑fifth of the world's oil typically passes has become one of the most enduring consequences of the war that the U.S. and Israel launched Feb. 28. It has squeezed countries in Europe and Asia that depend on Persian Gulf supplies and added new volatility to energy prices for households and businesses worldwide. 

Iran's military said Monday that U.S. forces would be attacked if they entered the Strait of Hormuz, after President Trump announced Washington would begin escorting ships through the blocked waterway.

"We warn that any foreign armed force — especially the aggressive U.S. military — if they intend to approach or enter the Strait of Hormuz, will be targeted and attacked," said Major General Ali Abdollahi of the Iranian military's central command, in a statement carried by state broadcaster IRIB.

"We have repeatedly stated that the security of the Strait of Hormuz is under the control of the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and under all circumstances, any safe passage must be coordinated with these forces," he added.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Sunday the United States faced a choice between an "impossible" military operation or a deal with Tehran, after President Trump disparaged Iran's latest peace proposal.

Iran's foreign ministry said Tehran had submitted a 14-point plan "focused on ending the war" and that Washington had already responded to it in a message to Pakistani mediators, which Iran was reviewing. 

Project Freedom, the effort announced by President Trump to help merchant vessels get through the Strait of Hormuz, will include "guided-missile destroyers, over 100 land and sea-based aircraft, multi-domain unmanned platforms, and 15,000 service members," U.S. Central Command said Sunday night.

Further details on what the operation would involve were not provided. 

President Trump on Sunday said an effort to guide ships from countries not involved in the war with Iran safely out of the Strait of Hormuz, dubbed Project Freedom, will begin Monday. 

"For the good of Iran, the Middle East, and the United States, 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," Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social.

"In all cases, they said they will not be returning until the area becomes safe for navigation," Mr. Trump wrote.

The president said the effort is a "Humanitarian gesture on behalf of the United States, Middle Eastern Countries but, in particular, the Country of Iran," noting that the ships are running low on food and other essential supplies.

"If, in any way, this Humanitarian process is interfered with, that interference will, unfortunately, have to be dealt with forcefully," Mr. Trump concluded.