Overview
- Project Liberty, which began Monday local time, deploys U.S. destroyers, 100+ aircraft and about 15,000 personnel to guide hundreds of commercial vessels and roughly 20,000 sailors out of the Strait of Hormuz.
- Iran has declared that no vessel may transit the strait without its permission and warned it will attack any foreign force that enters without coordinating with its military.
- Following Monday’s launch, Iranian state media said two missiles struck a U.S. warship near Jask, a claim U.S. Central Command rejected as false while saying forces continue the operation.
- Tanker-tracking firms reported two Iranian supertankers slipped past U.S. enforcement toward Indonesian waters, underscoring mixed results as Washington diverts or seizes other Iran-linked tankers.
- Maritime risk extends beyond the Gulf, with at least four hijackings off Somalia in ten days and security notices raising the local threat level, adding pressure on shippers and crews already navigating scarce routes.