United State claims progressin reopening the Strait of Hormuz

The US military said Monday that two American-flagged merchant ships had successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz after it launched a new initiative to restore traffic. The United Arab Emirates meanwhile issued three missile alerts and authorities said an Iranian drone hit an oil facility.
Iran has effectively controlled the strait since the US and Israel launched the war in late February. Breaking Iran’s chokehold would ease global economic concerns and deny Tehran a major source of leverage in talks aimed at ending the war. But US President Donald Trump’s latest effort also risks reigniting full-scale fighting as the US and Iran steadily ramp up pressure.
The United Arab Emirates issued its first three missile alerts since a ceasefire reached in early April and accused Iran of targeting an oil tanker.
The eastern emirate of Fujairah said an Iranian drone sparked a fire at an oil facility, and a monitoring center operated by the British military said a cargo ship was ablaze off the UAE coast.
An explosion and fire meanwhile broke out aboard a South Korean-operated ship anchored in the strait, though its cause was unknown, the South Korean government said.
In another sign of possible escalation, Iran claimed to have struck a US Navy vessel near the strait. The US denied the claim.
Iran’s effective closure of the strait, which runs between Iran and Oman, has caused a spike in worldwide fuel prices and rattled the global economy. The US-led Joint Maritime Information Center is now advising ships to cross the strait in Oman’s waters, saying it set up an “enhanced security area.”
Trump warns of forceful’ response if Iran interferes: The US military’s Central Command said the two American-flagged merchant ships were “safely headed on their journey” after transiting the Strait of Hormuz. It said Navy guided-missile destroyers in the Persian Gulf were helping to restore traffic.
Its statement on X said that US destroyers had also transited the strait. It did not say when the Navy ships arrived or when the merchant vessels departed.
Trump’s announcement Sunday that the US would “guide” ships out of the strait warned that Iranian efforts to block them “will, unfortunately, have to be dealt with forcefully.”
He described “Project Freedom” in humanitarian terms, designed to aid stranded seafarers on hundreds of ships that have been stuck in the Persian Gulf since the war began. Crews have described to The Associated Press seeing drones and missiles explode over the waters earlier in the war as their vessels run low on drinking water, food and other supplies.
Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency called the effort part of Trump’s “delirium.”