Updates with details throughout
The US and Iran have each announced measures designed to challenge the other's claims of controlling navigation through the strait of Hormuz, where commercial traffic remains at a fraction of pre-war levels.
The Pentagon, which on Monday launched a military mission to facilitate the exit of stranded vessels from the Mideast Gulf, has advised vessels transiting Hormuz to travel through Omani territorial waters, according to a notice from the US-led Joint Maritime Information Center.
Tehran on Tuesday issued a requirement for ships seeking to pass through Hormuz to obtain a transit permit from a newly created agency, "the Persian Gulf Strait Authority", according to Iran's state TV broadcaster. Iran since March has required ships to transit Hormuz via a route close to its coastline, with many ships either paying an unofficial toll or making other arrangements with the Iranian authorities.
The competing claims over control over navigation through Hormuz have led maritime associations to warn that risks to shipping in the strait of Hormuz remain elevated. A total of 19 vessels left the Mideast Gulf through Hormuz in the last two weeks. At least three vessels came under attack in the vicinity or in the strait of Hormuz in recent days, including a cargo vessel transiting the strait on Tuesday, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency.
The US mission to challenge Iran's control over the strait of Hormuz, launched on Monday, enabled two US-flagged vessels to leave the Mideast Gulf, according to the Pentagon. "We have established a powerful red, white and blue dome over the strait," US defense secretary Pete Hegseth said at a briefing on Tuesday. "We know the Iranians are embarrassed by this fact. They said they control the strait. They do not."
Tehran announced the new requirement for a transit permit for ships attempting passage through Hormuz after Hegseth's remarks. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Monday published a new map of the strait of Hormuz illustrating the area that it says is "under the management and control" of Iran's armed forces, which would challenge the US-recommended route for Hormuz transit.
A 'defensive operation'
President Donald Trump's administration launched its "Project Freedom" mission on Monday to facilitate the exit of ships stranded in the Mideast Gulf after the US-Israel war against Iran began on 28 February. The operation is "defensive in nature", US secretary of state Marco Rubio said on Tuesday, which he said means "there's no shooting unless we're shot at first".
The US and Iran already exchanged fire on Monday, with Iran launching missiles targeting US warships transiting Hormuz while the US destroyed six Iranian naval boats.
The ongoing US naval blockade of Iranian trade is not an act of war, either, Rubio said. "We have a blockade because they shut down the strait," he said. There are 1,550 vessels and 22,500 mariners stranded in the Mideast Gulf, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, General Dan Caine said on Tuesday. "At least 10 sailors have already died as a result," Rubio said, noting that "they're isolated (and) they're starving".
Characterizing the US military operations as defensive at least partly reflects the Trump administration's effort to sidestep a statute designed to limit the president's authority to wage war without congressional approval.
The US's Project Freedom operation is temporary, and the Pentagon is looking to quickly hand over responsibility for the mission to other countries, Hegseth said.
"Operation Epic Fury has concluded, and we achieved the objectives of that operation," Rubio said, referencing the US designation for the military attack against Iran before a ceasefire took effect on 7 April.
But Hegseth and Rubio have left little doubt that the US plans to force open the strait of Hormuz. Project Freedom "is the first step towards reopening the strait and bringing (Iran's) last-ditch active economic arson to a close", Rubio said.
