US says it shot down Iranian missiles and drones, destroyed six ships

The hostilities come as the U.S. military seeks to facilitate commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, an effort dubbed “Project Freedom” announced by President Donald Trump on Sunday.

Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command, told reporters that U.S. Apache and Seahawk helicopters hit “six small Iranian boats that threatened commercial shipping.”

Cooper said the U.S. military also “effectively attacked” all “missiles and drones launched against us and commercial ships.”

He said some of the cruise missiles were launched against U.S. Navy ships, but most of them, as well as several drones, were targeted at commercial vessels.

“We defended both ourselves and all commercial vessels as we promised,” Cooper said.

In a post on his Truth social platform, Trump put the number of Iranian ships hit at seven and said there was “no damage done so far through the channel” except for one South Korean ship that was hit, but he gave no further details.

Iranian state television also quoted a senior military official of the country as saying: “The US claim to have sunk multiple Iranian warships is wrong.”

– Defense “protective umbrella” –

The U.S. and Israeli forces launched war against Iran on February 28, after which the Islamic Republic closed the Strait of Hormuz, a key channel for oil and gas exports, and the U.S. military subsequently imposed a blockade on Iranian ports.

Iranian state television said earlier on Monday that the country’s navy had launched cruise missiles, rockets and combat drones near a U.S. destroyer passing through the strait, calling it a “warning shot.”

Central Command said two U.S. guided-missile destroyers had passed through the strait and entered the Gulf as part of Project Freedom, while two U.S.-flagged merchant ships had passed in the opposite direction and were “departing safely.”

Cooper said that the US military does not directly escort ships through the strait, but has “multi-layered escorts, including ships, helicopters, aircraft, airborne early warning, and electronic warfare,” which is equivalent to “a broader defense plan than simple escort.”

He said the U.S. military used unspecified “exquisite technology” to open a channel through the strait “over the past few weeks” and then “put this umbrella over it.”

Cooper added that it was “ultimately going to be a two-way street” but “the most important thing in the short term is to get the boats out”.

According to maritime intelligence company AXSMArine, there were more than 900 commercial ships in the Gulf as of April 29.

WD/DES

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