Live Updates: Iran ceasefire, control over Strait of Hormuz tested as U.S. guides ships through Iranian fire

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told reporters Tuesday that "the ceasefire is not over" with Iran, calling the Project Freedom operation to guide commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz "a separate and distinct project." 

"We expected there would be some churn at the beginning, which happened, and we said we would defend and defend aggressively and we absolutely have," he said, referring to a violent encounter between the U.S. and Iran on Monday during the first Project Freedom operation to guide two commercial vessels through the strait. 

Hegseth said "Iran knows" the U.S. military is resolved to continue with Project Freedom, "and ultimately the president's going to make a decision whether anything were to escalate into a violation of a ceasefire. But certainly we would urge Iran to be prudent in the actions that they take to keep that underneath this threshold."

The defense secretary said "right now, the ceasefire certainly holds." But he noted that "we're going to be watching very, very closely."

Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, speaking at the briefing alongside Hegseth, said beyond the operation in the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. forces "remain ready to resume major combat operations against Iran if ordered to do so."

"No adversary should mistake our current restraint with a lack of resolve," he added. 

Caine outlined that on Sunday, CENTCOM initiated Project Freedom at the president's direction, "with the objective of facilitating the safe passage of international, commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz."

He said guided missile destroyers and warships are "detecting and defeating Iranian threats," while more than 100 aircraft are in the air providing defensive overwatch. He said the forces are made up of over 15,000 American service members.

"Commercial vessels that transit through the area will see, hear and frankly feel U.S. combat around them — on the sea, in the skies and on the radio," Caine said. 

Caine said Iran had attacked U.S. forces "more than 10 times" since President Trump first announced the ongoing ceasefire on April 8, but said that fell "below the threshold of restarting major combat operations." 

"Since the ceasefire was announced, Iran has fired at commercial vessels nine times and seized two container ships," Caine said. "And they've attacked U.S. forces more than 10 times, all below the threshold of restarting major combat operations at this point."

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday defined Project Freedom, a day-old U.S. military operation to assist commercial vessels stuck in the Persian Gulf to get out via the Strait of Hormuz, as completely separate from hostilities with Iran that began with joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on the country on Feb. 28.  

"This operation is separate and distinct from Operation Epic Fury. Project Freedom is defensive in nature, focused in scope, and temporary in duration, with one mission: protecting innocent commercial shipping from Iranian aggression," Hegseth said at a press briefing. 

Hegseth said American forces would not need to enter Iranian waters or airspace for Project Freedom, adding: "We're not looking for a fight."

"But Iran also cannot be allowed to block innocent countries and their goods from an international waterway," he said, calling Iran the "clear aggressor," and accusing the Islamic Republic regime of "weaponizing a critical chokepoint for its own financial benefit."

"Iran's plan, a form of international extortion, is unacceptable," Hegseth said. "That ends with Project Freedom."

Hegseth said U.S. warships and aircraft assisting two commercial vessels to transit the strait on Monday showed "the lane is clear." 

He said U.S. Central Command was actively communicating with hundreds of ships from around the world that "want to get out of the Iranian trap that they have been stuck inside." 

"We'd prefer this to be a peaceful operation, but are locked and loaded to defend our people, our ships, our aircraft and this mission without gestation," he said. "To Iran: Let innocent ships pass freely. These international waters belong to all nations, not to Iran to tax, toll for control."

Iran's semi-official Fars news agency, which is associated with the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, claimed Tuesday that two U.S.-flagged commercial vessels had become stranded off Oman's coast in shallow, rocky waters near the southern entrance to the Strait of Hormuz.

The report came a day after the U.S. military said warships and aircraft had assisted two U.S.-flagged ships in transiting the strait as part of the newly launched Project Freedom.

Danish shipping giant Maersk confirmed to CBS News on Tuesday that one of the ships guided out of the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, under U.S. military protection, was the cargo ship ALLIANCE FAIRFAX.

Maersk did not give a precise location for the vessel but said it had "exited the Persian Gulf accompanied by U.S. military assets" on Monday and that the company "looks forward to the ALLIANCE FAIRFAX returning to its normal commercial service."

Under Project Freedom, the U.S. military has urged vessels to coordinate passage through the strait via a southerly route, skirting Oman's coast, rather than the normal route through the middle of the waterway, where there are believed to be sea mines. Iranian authorities previously told ships to use a northern path, but only after gaining explicit permission from the Islamic Republic's military.

Fars claimed the southern section of the strait, near Oman's Musandam Peninsula and the Al Kheil islands, is unsuitable for maritime passage due to shallow waters and rocky terrain.

According to the Strauss Center for International Security and Law, however, the strait "is deep and relatively free of maritime hazards," and is actually deepest "near the Musandam Peninsula and tapers as you move north toward the Iranian shore."

According to the Strauss Center, which is affiliated with the University of Texas at Austin, the water is "deep enough for large ships to travel through an Inshore Traffic Zone south of the Omani island of Didimar. Depths in this area reach over 650 feet, but the Omani government restricts access to this area to smaller vessels in normal, peacetime situations."

A high-ranking commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) warned Tuesday that any further "escalation of tensions between Iran and the U.S." would bring a "much more severe" outcome for the U.S., which he said "will ultimately be defeated," despite the Iran's military being vastly outgunned.

President Trump downplayed a clash between U.S. warships and Iranian forces on Monday during which American ships and aircraft destroyed seven Iranian fast boats. Speaking later in the day with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, Mr. Trump renewed his assertion that the U.S., "from the military standpoint," has already won the war, saying all of Iran's navy ships were "at the bottom of the sea."

Nonetheless, Major General Yadollah Javani, deputy IRGC commander for political affairs, said Tuesday that if there was further escalation between Iran and the U.S., the fallout "will be much more severe for the latter." 

"The U.S. will flex its muscles, but will ultimately be defeated," he claimed in remarks carried by Iran's state-run Press TV.

The commander renewed Iran's threat to shipping after the first operation under the U.S Project Freedom to get commercial vessels through the strait, warning that any ship wishing to transit the waterway must do so with permission from the Iranian Armed Forces "in order to stay safe."

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was headed to China's capital Beijing on Tuesday for discussions on bilateral ties between the two countries and on "international developments" amid the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.

Araghchi and the foreign ministry confirmed his trip on Tuesday, saying he would meet for the talks with his counterpart, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, but offering no additional information.

China has portrayed itself as a neutral party during the two-month war, calling often for diplomacy to end the conflict, but continuing to support its trade partner by buying Iranian energy — reportedly even since the U.S. imposed a blockade on Iranian ports and vessels.

American intelligence agencies detected signs early in the war that Russia and China were both supporting Iran in a bid to blunt the joint U.S.-Israeli military operations.

U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency analysts assessed that China had been considering whether to provide Tehran with advanced radar systems, multiple U.S. officials familiar with the matter told CBS News in mid-April.  

A South Korean cargo ship that President Trump said was hit by an Iranian attack Monday in the Strait of Hormuz was waiting to be towed into Dubai's port Tuesday after being disabled by the strike, according to South Korea's state-owned Yonhap news agency.

The ship's operator, Seoul-based logistics company HMM, confirmed a fire on board the NAMU had knocked out the vessel's primary power supply Monday, leaving the ship unable to move on its own power.  

Yonhap said six South Korean sailors were planning to return home, while 24 others of various nationalities were to remain on board, where a backup generator was keeping the lights on, and HMM said there were adequate food and water supplies.

"The conditions are for the crew to disembark if they decide to disembark, but it seems that the fire suppression has been completed and there are no additional risk factors, so it is determined that they will stay on the ship," Yonhap quoted an HMM representative as saying.

South Korea's government said earlier Tuesday that it would "review its position" on joining U.S. military operations to secure shipping in the Strait of Hormuz after President Trump called explicitly for Seoul to do so in light of the attack on the NAMU.

After Iran launched its first attack on a Persian Gulf neighbor in almost a month on Monday, lashing out as the U.S. started an operation to guide tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, Saudi Arabia's government issued a call for "de-escalation, restraint" and diplomacy.

In a statement, the Saudi Foreign Ministry voiced concern over the "current military escalation in the region" and called for "de-escalation, restraint, and support for Pakistani mediation and diplomatic efforts to reach a political solution that prevents the region from sliding into further tension and instability, which is not in the interest of the region or the world."

The Saudi government also stressed "the importance of restoring international maritime navigation in the Strait of Hormuz to its normal state," demanding that all ships "be guaranteed safe and secure passage without restrictions."

Iran's chief negotiator in talks with the United States warned Tuesday that his country has "not even started" in its standoff over the Strait of Hormuz.

"We know full well that the continuation of the status quo is intolerable for America; whilst we have not even started yet," Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a social media post.

Ghalibaf, who's also the speaker of Iran's parliament, said the actions of the U.S. and its allies had put shipping security at risk but said their "malign presence will diminish." 

South Korea said Tuesday it will "review its position" on joining U.S. operations in the Strait of Hormuz after President Trump urged Seoul to take part in what he has dubbed "Project Freedom," in the wake of an apparent Iranian attack on one of its ships.

An explosion and fire were reported on a South Korean cargo vessel on Monday in the key waterway, which has been effectively blocked since the Mideast war erupted on Feb. 28.

South Korea's foreign ministry said Tuesday that all 24 crew members aboard the stricken HMM Namu — including six South Korean nationals — were unharmed and the fire on the vessel had been "completely extinguished."

Mr. Trump said the incident should prompt South Korea to join American efforts to guide stranded ships through the strait, a major artery for the fuel exports that Seoul relies on.

On Tuesday, South Korea's defense ministry said it would "carefully review our position" but didn't commit to any change.

Seoul would consider its stance based on international law, the safety of international maritime routes, its alliance with the United States and the security situation on the Korean peninsula, the ministry said.

It added that it had been "actively participating in international discussions on cooperation to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz."

The HMM Namu is almost 590 feet long and sails under the flag of Panama, data from tracking site MarineTraffic shows. 

CBS/AFP

Denmark's freight giant Maersk said on Tuesday that one of its ships has successfully sailed through the Strait of Hormuz under U.S. escort.

The ship, the U.S.-flagged Alliance Fairfax, had been stuck in the Gulf since the war erupted in February and was "offered the opportunity" to leave accompanied by the U.S. military, Maersk said in a statement.

"The vessel subsequently exited the Persian Gulf accompanied by U.S. military assets" on May 4, the company said, adding that "the transit was completed without incident, and all crew members are safe and unharmed."  

Two U.S. Navy destroyers transited the Strait of Hormuz and entered the Persian Gulf after navigating an Iranian barrage, according to defense officials who spoke to CBS News under condition of anonymity to discuss national security matters.  

The USS Truxtun and USS Mason, supported by Apache helicopters and other aircraft, faced a series of coordinated threats during the passage, the defense officials said. Iran launched small boats, missiles and drones against them in what officials described as a sustained barrage.

Despite the intensity of the attacks, neither U.S. vessel was struck. 

Military officials said that defensive measures, bolstered by air support, successfully intercepted or deterred each incoming threat. They added that no projectiles that were launched reached the ships.

Read more here.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Monday talks with the U.S. are making progress but criticized the U.S. military's Project Freedom in the Strait of Hormuz.

"Events in Hormuz make clear that there's no military solution to a political crisis," Araghchi said in a social media post. "As talks are making progress with Pakistan's gracious effort, the U.S. should be wary of being dragged back into quagmire by ill-wishers. So should the UAE."

"Project Freedom is Project Deadlock," he added.