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U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine hold a briefing on the Iran war, (Reuters)<\/p>\n
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday claimed the U.S. operation to protect commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz is a \u201cseparate and distinct\u201d one from the more than two-month-old war against Iran launched by President Donald Trump as he warned Tehran against attacking any American or international commercial traffic transiting the key waterway.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a press briefing at the Pentagon alongside Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair General Dan Caine, Hegseth said the mission that has been dubbed \u201cProject Freedom\u201d is meant to \u201crestart the free flow of commerce through the Strait of Hormuz\u201d amid skyrocketing petroleum prices as a result of Iran\u2019s effective closing of the strait.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be clear, this operation is separate and distinct from Operation Epic Fury. Project Freedom is defensive in nature, focused in scope and temporary in duration, with one mission, protecting innocent commercial shipping from Iranian aggression,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Hegseth told reporters that American forces participating in Project Freedom will not enter Iranian airspace or territorial waters, describing such actions as \u201cnot necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re not looking for a fight. But Iran also cannot be allowed to block innocent countries and their goods from an international waterway. Iran is the clear aggressor, harassing civilian vessels, threatening mariners from every nation indiscriminately and weaponizing a critical choke point for its own financial benefit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He described Tehran\u2019s attempts to charge tolls for safe passage through the choke point as \u201cinternational extortion\u201d that \u201cends with Project Freedom\u201d putting a \u201cpowerful red, white and blue dome over the strait\u201d in the form of U.S. destroyers along with \u201chundreds of fighter jets, helicopters, drones and surveillance aircraft, providing 24\/7 overwatch for peaceful commercial vessels.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paradoxically, the Pentagon boss also said the U.S. \u201cironclad blockade\u201d against Iran \u201cremains in full effect\u201d even as he repeated the administration’s claim, first floated last week, that the shaky ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran \u201cis not over.\u201d<\/p>\n
The defense secretary\u2019s assertion that the new U.S. operation is \u201cseparate and distinct\u201d from the ongoing war and blockade comes days after the war the administration has called Operation Epic Fury reached the 60-day mark, triggering a requirement that Trump obtain Congress\u2019 consent to continue operations or withdraw U.S. forces.<\/p>\n
Trump sent House and Senate leaders a letter on Friday claiming that the hostilities between the U.S. and Iran had \u201cterminated\u201d even as the blockade, which is an act of war under international law, continues.<\/p>\n
A Vietnam War-era law, the War Powers Resolution, requires the president to seek and obtain permission from the U.S. legislature to continue any hostilities after 60 days, with provision for a single 30-day extension for the sole purpose of withdrawing troops from those hostilities.<\/p>\n
The president and his top aides initially claimed that the ceasefire with Iran paused that 60-day deadline despite there being no legal or historical precedent for such an interpretation of the decades-old law.<\/p>\n
Yet even as he claimed the war with Iran was effectively over, Hegseth said Trump reserves the right to restart fighting anew and said U.S. forces remain \u201clocked and loaded to defend our people, our ships, our aircraft and this mission without hesitation\u201d while working to protect shipping.<\/p>\n
He also described the U.S. mission in the strait as \u201ctemporary\u201d and argued that \u201cour partners, allies, and the rest of the world\u201d must \u201cstep up at the appropriate time\u201d to take over protection of commercial shipping.<\/p>\n
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