WASHINGTON (Gray DC) – The U.S. Military announced Tuesday it will guide ships through the Strait of Hormuz as the conflict with Iran enters the third month.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced “Project Freedom” at a Pentagon press conference Tuesday morning.
“To be clear, this operation is separate and distinct from Operation Epic Fury,” Hegseth said during the press conference. “Project Freedom is defensive in nature, focused in scope and temporary in duration, with one mission: protecting innocent commercial shipping from Iranian aggression.”
The announcement comes as the United Arab Emirates says Iran fired missiles and drones towards the country on Monday and Tuesday.
On the U.S. side, despite at least ten instances of Iran firing on US vessels since the ceasefire started, Hegseth said the ceasefire holds.
“No, the ceasefire is not over,” Hegseth said in response to a reporter’s question. “Ultimately this is a separate and distinct project and we expected there would be some churn at the beginning, which happened and we said we would defend and defend aggressively and we absolutely have… The President’s going to make a decision whether anything were to escalate into a violation of a ceasefire.”
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has caused gas prices to climb more than 40 cents in just the last week.
Congress has still not voted to authorize the use of military force against Iran. Some Republicans on Capitol Hill said a vote on military force would only be necessary if the conflict lasted longer than 60 days.
That deadline passed last week, but the White House argues the current temporary ceasefire puts the clock on pause.
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