Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday the U.S. mission to protect commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz would be temporary and other nations would soon have to take responsibility, emphasizing that the fragile ceasefire with Iran remained in place despite attacks on U.S. ships a day earlier.
Speaking at a briefing alongside Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Hegseth said the United States had established a powerful “red, white and blue dome” over the strait as a “direct gift” to other nations to allow commercial ships to pass through.
“This operation is separate and distinct from Operation Epic Fury,” he said, using the Trump administration’s name for the war with Iran.
He described the effort to help commercial ships navigate the narrow strait as a “temporary mission” for U.S. forces. “We expect the world to step up at the appropriate time, and soon we will hand responsibility back to you,” he said.
Caine said that more than 22,500 mariners on more than 1,550 commercial ships are waiting to transit the strait and that U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the region, had established an “enhanced security area” on the southern side of the strait protected by U.S. forces.
Since the ceasefire was announced, Iran has fired at commercial vessels nine times, seized two, and attacked U.S. forces more than 10 times, Caine said – “all below the threshold of restarting major combat operations, at this point.”
The general characterized Iranian attacks so far as “below harassing fire right now; it feels like Iran is grasping at straws to try to do something across the southern flank” of the strait.
Hegseth added that the “ceasefire is not over.”
President Donald Trump, speaking later at the White House, declined to say what Iranian actions would constitute a ceasefire violation.
“Well, you’ll find out because I’ll let you know,” Trump said.
Trump, as he has in recent days, sought to downplay the significance of the unresolved conflict.
“You know, we had an all-time-high stock market today, despite that word, a little skirmish military,” Trump said. “I call it a skirmish because Iran has no chance.”
Caine and Hegseth said that the fast boats Iran used to try to attack the vessels were only using small arms, rifles or machine guns, but that Iran also fired small coastal cruise missiles, which did not hit the ships.
The defense secretary and general spoke to reporters just days after a deadline passed that by law required the White House to seek Congress’s authorization to continue to carry out strikes in Iran after 60 days of operations. Hegseth said that 60-day deadline did not apply because of the ceasefire.
“With the ceasefire, the clock stops,” he said. Democrats in Congress have contested the legality of that position.
Iranian officials on Tuesday accused the U.S. of violating the ceasefire and warned of it becoming bogged down in the war, now in its third month. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a post on X that events in the strait “make clear that there’s no military solution to a political crisis,” adding that the U.S. should be “wary of being dragged back into quagmire.”
“Project Freedom is Project Deadlock,” he said, referring to President Donald Trump’s name for the U.S. mission to guide ships through the strait.
Iranian Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said a “new equation” in the strait is “in the process of being solidified” in a post on X on Tuesday. “We know full well that the continuation of the status quo is intolerable for America; while we have not even begun yet,” he added.
On Monday, the U.S. said two of its destroyers, closely followed by two merchant vessels, came under attack during successful transits of the strait, which has remained effectively blocked to maritime traffic during the war.
Iran fired cruise missiles and drones at the U.S. naval and commercial vessels and sent fast boats after commercial ships, said Adm. Brad Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command. Elsewhere in the region, the United Arab Emirates reported an Iranian assault on an energy hub that caused a fire, while Oman’s state media reported an attack in the country but did not identify a perpetrator.
South Korea said it was also investigating the cause of a fire in a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz, after Trump said Iran was to blame.
Cooper insisted the U.S. had the upper hand and sought to differentiate U.S. actions from those of Iran. “The distinction from my perspective is crystal clear,” he said. “My operational assessment overall is that the U.S. military has the clear advantage.”
Trump also sought to assert U.S. military dominance following Monday’s attacks, saying that “one way or the other, we win” in comments to conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. “We either make the right deal, or we win very easily from the military standpoint. We’ve already won that,” he said. The president also said the U.S. had “knocked out” Iran’s leadership teams since the war began. “They talk a lot differently when they’re talking to me than they talk when they’re talking to the media,” he said.
No new attacks were reported early Tuesday as Araghchi traveled to China for diplomatic talks and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned Monday’s attacks. “It is absolutely essential that the ceasefire be upheld and respected, to allow necessary diplomatic space for dialogue leading to enduring peace and stability in the region,” Sharif said in a post on X.
U.S. efforts to help commercial ships transit the strait came after Trump said Project Freedom would begin Monday, while discussions to end the war with Iran remained underway. The critical waterway carried about 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas supplies before the war began.
The president framed the mission as a humanitarian exercise, saying the U.S. had received requests for help from what he called “victims of circumstance” trapped in the area. “If, in any way, this Humanitarian process is interfered with, that interference will, unfortunately, have to be dealt with forcefully,” he said in a social media post.
Iran has repeatedly warned against U.S. intervention in the Strait of Hormuz, and negotiations to open the narrow choke point have formed a central plank of discussions between the U.S. and Iran since they agreed to a ceasefire on April 7, which largely halted the fighting. Despite exchanging proposals and holding face-to-face talks, the two sides still face key sticking points that threaten both the ceasefire and the prospect of a more lasting peace.
(c) 2026, The Washington Post · Victoria Craw, Tara Copp, Dan Lamothe
