Here's the latest
• Ceasefire tested: President Donald Trump won’t say whether the US-Iran truce remains in place after both sides fired shots in the Strait of Hormuz. He also warned Iranian forces they would be “blown off the face of the Earth” if they targeted US ships in the strait or the Persian Gulf.
• UAE under fire: The United Arab Emirates, a US ally, defended itself against Iranian strikes for the first time since the ceasefire began in early April, with one drone attack causing a fire at a major oil port.
• Economic crisis: Oil hit its highest price of the year on the first day of Trump’s operation to guide stranded ships through the Strait of Hormuz, underscoring the intense uncertainty that still dogs the global energy trade.
Why the Strait of Hormuz is so crucial to the global economy
A narrow waterway that bypasses Iran and Oman, the Strait of Hormuz is the main route for shipping crude from oil-rich countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to the rest of the world.
The strait has remained a major flashpoint since the start of the conflict after it was effectively closed by Iran following strikes by the US and Israel on the country on February 28.
Iran controls the strait’s northern side. About 20 million barrels of oil, or about one-fifth of daily global production, used to flow through the strait every day, according to the US Energy Information Administration, which calls the channel a “critical oil chokepoint.”
While some producers, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have found alternative routes for their exports, around 10-12 million barrels of crude remain choked off from global markets.
The strait also carries about one-fifth of global trade in liquefied natural gas, largely from Qatar.
Trump declines to say whether ceasefire is still in effect
President Donald Trump declined to say if the fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran remains in place, after both sides fired shots in the Strait of Hormuz.
Pressed last night by conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt if the ceasefire with Iran is “over,” and if strikes could resume as that evening, Trump told Hewitt, “Well, I can’t tell you that.”
“You wouldn’t — if I answered that question, you’d say this man is not smart enough to be president,” Trump said.
Earlier, in an interview with Fox News, Trump warned Iranian forces they would be “blown off the face of the Earth” if they attempted to target US ships in the strait or the Persian Gulf.
Later in the interview, he insisted war with Iran, “militarily … is essentially over.”
US can block Iran in Hormuz with zone defense instead of man-to-man, analyst says
As the US military launched Project Freedom to help “guide” merchant ships to safely transit the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, US Central Command chief Adm. Bradley Cooper stressed it was a “defensive operation.”
Cooper said a variety of US ships, planes, helicopters and drones was being used to put a “defensive umbrella” over the strait.
Two US-flagged merchant ships passed through the strait as US forces took out Iranian threats, Cooper said, adding that more ships were waiting to get through.
But some analysts wonder if the US has enough assets to protect more merchant ships and attain pre-war numbers of around 120 ships crossing the critical waterway daily.
The more ships the US tries to help, the more risk it takes, Jones told CNN’s Erin Burnett.
But retired Navy Capt. Carl Schuster, a former director of operations at the US Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center, sees it differently.
Schuster made an analogy to football. The US military is playing zone defense, not man-to-man, he told CNN, using the football analogy.
If the zone is set up correctly, more defenders aren’t needed even if Iran adds offensive players, he said.
A more likely move for Iran is to look outside the lines (to carry on the analogy), he said.
Iran will “look for more attacks on loading terminals and oil facilities,” not the ships moving through the strait under US protection, Schuster said.
What's happening in the UAE?
Iran targeted the United Arab Emirates on Monday for the first time since the ceasefire began, with the US ally saying its air defenses “engaged” 19 missiles and drones.
Three Indian nationals were injured in a “major fire” caused by a drone strike on the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone, Emirati authorities said. And at least one vessel was also attacked off the UAE coast.
An Israeli air defense system deployed to the United Arab Emirates was involved in intercepting the missiles, a source told CNN. Israel had secretly deployed an Iron Dome aerial defense system to the UAE at the beginning of the war with Iran, sources previously told CNN — a sign of their growing cooperation.
The strikes plunged the nation’s residents into fresh uncertainty, with schools shifting to remote learning this week.
After the strikes, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned the US and UAE against getting drawn into a “quagmire,” saying that recent “events in (the Strait of) Hormuz make clear that there’s no military solution to a political crisis.”
The UAE condemned Iran’s renewed attacks targeting civilian sites and facilities in the country, saying it reserves the right to respond to defend its national security. The country has sustained more incoming fire from Iran than any other country over the past two months.
The Qatari government, meanwhile, pledged “full solidarity” with its neighbor. Qatar was similarly targeted by Iran’s strikes before the ceasefire and even engaged in its first air-to-air combat against Iranian bombers in March.
CNN’s Max Saltman, Eyad Kourdi, Mohammed Tawfeeq, Tal Shalev and Nadeen Ebrahim contributed reporting to this post.
Iran's key negotiator accuses US and allies of jeopardizing shipping security
Iran’s powerful parliament speaker says the United States and its allies have jeopardized secure shipping and energy transportation “through the violation of the ceasefire and the imposition of a blockade” at the Strait of Hormuz, where tensions are mounting.
“Of course, their evil will diminish,” Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf – who has been leading negotiations for Tehran and has emerged as a key voice of the Iranian regime – posted 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.
His comments come as the uneasy ceasefire is strained further by both sides firing shots in the Hormuz strait. President Donald Trump won’t say whether the US-Iran truce remains in place but warned Iranian forces they would be “blown off the face of the Earth” if they targeted US ships in the strait or the Persian Gulf.
Can the US scale up its plan to guide ships through the Strait of Hormuz?
Day one of Project Freedom, the US military’s plan to get shipping moving again through the Strait of Hormuz, was a success, the top US commander in the Middle East says.
But independent analysts are more circumspect, pointing out that only two US-flagged vessels made it through the strait under US protection and scaling up the operation to restore pre-war traffic of 120 or vessels a day seems like a long shot, especially if Iran is not cooperating.
Adm. Bradley Cooper, the head of US Central Command, told reporters in a conference call Monday that the US used a combined force of destroyers, helicopters, fighter jets, drones and other assets to protect the movement of the two US ships through the strait.
Iranian cruise missiles that targeted US Navy destroyers and the merchant ships were shot down, and US helicopters sank six small Iranian boats that attempted to attack the commercial vessels, the US admiral said.
For those two merchant ships, the operation seemed to go exactly as it was envisioned, with layered US defenses protecting ships following a route the US Navy determined was safe from mines.
Cooper said there was “a lot of enthusiasm” for Project Freedom and other ships were moving to take advantage of it.
Analyst Carl Schuster, a former US Navy captain, told CNN he thinks those merchant ship numbers could soon grow to 20 to 30 a day if US protection isn’t breached.
But he and others cautioned, “Iran gets a vote in this.”
Retired US Army Lt. Gen. Karen Gibson, speaking on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” called the first day of Project Freedom a “tactical success,” but said it must be measured against that pre-war flow of 120 vessels a day.
Iran just needs to continue to present a perception of risk to keep merchant traffic to small numbers, she said, essentially keeping Hormuz all but closed.
Why Trump's trip to China could complicate decisions on Iran ceasefire
US President Donald Trump’s highly anticipated visit to Beijing next week could complicate any decision to resume the war with Iran.
He initially delayed the trip from April while the conflict raged. China has called for reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, where much of the energy products it relies upon pass through.
Arriving in Beijing with the conflict at best unresolved — or at worst raging yet again — could place Trump in a weakened position in his talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Speaking to Fox News on Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — who has been leading preliminary discussions with the Chinese ahead of Trump’s visit — said the country could do more to convince Iran to allow ships to pass through the strait.
Read more here about Trump’s gambit to move ships through the strait.
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"Project Freedom" has shipping insiders wary about crossing “hazardous” Strait of Hormuz
After triggering fresh violence in the Gulf, “Project Freedom” appears to have backfired and shipping executives remain extremely wary about crossing the Strait of Hormuz.
US President Donald Trump launched “Project Freedom” on Monday to “guide” commercial ships through the strait and after it went into effect, the US and Iran traded shots in the shipping channel.
And the UAE said Iran fired missiles and drones at a major oil port in Fujairah, which lies just beyond the strait. Its location is significant as it’s one of the few export routes for Middle East oil that does not need to transit through the critical waterway.
This is the biggest escalation in violence since the ceasefire was announced four weeks ago.
After “Project Freedom” was announced, Iran said commercial ships and tankers should instead coordinate with its armed forces, and that US forces would be attacked if they entered the Strait of Hormuz.
The conflicting information from both sides has left ship captains unsure of how to proceed.
“Operating in prolonged uncertainty places a different kind of pressure on crews. While we remain focused, disciplined, and committed to our routines, the waiting itself is demanding,” said Captain ArunKumar Rajendran of Fleet Management Limited, who is among the estimated 20,000 seafarers waiting to pass through the strait.
Iranian drone strike causes fire at UAE oil facility
Iran launched strikes at the United Arab Emirates on Monday for the first time since the ceasefire began. CNN’s Paul Hancocks reports.
Three Indian nationals were moderately injured following an Iranian drone strike that sparked a “major fire” at the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone, Emirati authorities said. CNN's Paula Hancocks reports.
Will the US-Iran ceasefire hold? Here's what we know
Tensions are escalating in the Strait of Hormuz, with Iran and the US trading shots — and putting a fragile ceasefire on even shakier footing.
In interviews on Monday, US President Donald Trump declined to say if the ceasefire is still in effect, and warned Iranian forces would be “blown off the face of the Earth” if they targeted US ships in the critical waterway or Persian Gulf.
Here’s where things stand:
- The US military took down at least six small Iranian boats in the strait on Monday, US Central Command chief Adm. Bradley Cooper said. A report in Iranian state media disputed the US claim of having sunk the boats.
- Iran launched “multiple cruise missiles, drones and small boats” at US Navy ships and at commercial ships being “protected” by the US military, Cooper said. Trump said “no damage” had been incurred as a result of the Iranian strikes, other than to a South Korean vessel.
- The South Korean-operated vessel in the Strait of Hormuz that caught fire after an explosion will be towed to a nearby port for repairs, Seoul’s foreign ministry said Tuesday. Twenty-six South Korea-related vessels have been stranded at the strait since the war began.
- Iran also targeted the United Arab Emirates, a US ally, for the first time since the ceasefire began. The UAE said its air defenses “engaged” 19 Iranian missiles and drones. An Israeli air defense system deployed to the UAE was involved in intercepting the strikes, a source told CNN. And a drone strike on the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone caused a fire that injured three Indian nationals. India condemned the attack.
- Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned the US and UAE against getting drawn into a “quagmire,” saying that recent “events in (the Strait of) Hormuz make clear that there’s no military solution to a political crisis.” He said talks were “making progress with Pakistan’s gracious effort.”
- There are no “escorts” of commercial ships by the US Navy, according to Cooper. Instead, the US has used “a much broader defensive package” to clear a “one way” path through the Strait meant to allow commercial vessels in the Persian Gulf to exit, he said.
- Danish shipping and logistics company Maersk confirmed that one of its ships traversed the strait with US military protection. US Central Command had previously announced two ships had transited the waterway.
- In other headlines, preparatory talks are expected ahead of more negotiations between Israel and Lebanon in Washington, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun’s office said. Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said “there is no ceasefire in Lebanon, but rather ongoing Israeli American aggression,” as the Iran-backed group trades fire with Israeli forces despite the shaky ceasefire.
CNN’s Gawon Bae, Max Saltman, Mohammed Tawfeeq, Eyad Kourdi, Natasha Bertrand, Zachary Cohen, Tal Shalev, Kit Maher, Donald Judd and Adam Cancryn contributed reporting to this post.
