US President Donald Trump said on Monday that Iran had "taken some shots" but caused little damage in the Strait of Hormuz, while urging South Korea to join the war after one of its vessels was hit.
In a Truth Social post, Trump also made no mention of apparent attacks on the United Arab Emirates and Oman, in an apparent effort to downplay tensions in the face of surging oil prices.
The developments have shaken an already fragile ceasefire, with US warships also moving through the crucial waterway on Monday in what Trump says is an effort to protect shipping.
"Iran has taken some shots at unrelated Nations with respect to the Ship Movement, PROJECT FREEDOM, including a South Korean Cargo Ship. Perhaps it’s time for South Korea to come and join the mission!" wrote Trump.
"Other than the South Korean Ship, there has been, at this moment, no damage going through the Strait."
Meanwhile, a senior admiral said the US had destroyed six Iranian boats and shot down missiles and drones fired at US Navy and commercial vessels by Tehran's forces.
US Apache and Seahawk helicopters hit "six Iranian small boats threatening commercial shipping," Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of US Central Command (CENTCOM), told journalists.
US forces also "effectively engaged" all "missiles and drones that were fired at both us and the commercial ships," Cooper said.
Some cruise missiles were launched at US Navy ships but most of them as well as multiple drones targeted commercial vessels, he said.
"We defended both ourselves and, consistent with our commitment, we defended all the commercial ships," Cooper said.
But Iran denied that the US had sunk any of its boats, state television reported.
"The US claim that it sank a number of Iranian war boats is false," a senior Iranian military official was quoted as saying by state television
US and Israeli forces launched a massive military campaign against Iran on 28 February, prompting Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for oil and gas exports, while American forces later launched a blockade of Iranian ports.
Iranian state television said earlier on Monday that the country's navy had fired cruise missiles, rockets and combat drones near US destroyers crossing the strait in what it described as a "warning shot."
CENTCOM said that two US guided-missile destroyers had passed through the strait into the Gulf as part of "Project Freedom," while two US-flagged merchant vessels transited the opposite way and "are safely headed on their journey."
'Project Freedom'
US guided-missile destroyers entered the Gulf as part of the mission to escort ships through the vital Strait of Hormuz waterway, the US military said on Monday.
The warships "are currently operating in the Arabian Gulf after transiting the Strait of Hormuz in support of Project Freedom," US Central Command said on X, referring to the operation announced by President Donald Trump on Sunday.
Trump said in a social media post on Sunday the US would "guide" ships out of the strait, warning that Iranian efforts to block them "will, unfortunately, have to be dealt with forcefully."
He described part of what he called "Project Freedom" in humanitarian terms, designed to aid stranded seafarers, many on oil tankers or cargo ships, have been stuck in the Persian Gulf since the war began.
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency later called Trump's proposal part of his "delirium," and the Iranian military command said on Monday that ships passing must coordinate with them.
"We warn that any foreign military force, especially the aggressive US military, that intends to approach or enter the Strait of Hormuz will be targeted," Major General Pilot Ali Abdollahi told state broadcaster IRIB.
The United Arab Emirates said that Iran had fired two drones at a tanker affiliated with its state oil company ADNOC in the Strait of Hormuz, condemning the attack.
"Targeting commercial shipping and using the Strait of Hormuz as a tool of economic coercion or blackmail represents acts of piracy by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps," the foreign ministry said, adding that no one had been injured.
The UAE called the incident a "flagrant violation" of UN Security Council Resolution 2817.
