Overview
- U.S. Central Command said Monday it began supporting Project Freedom with destroyers, more than 100 aircraft, drones, and 15,000 personnel, and a U.S.-led taskforce set an enhanced security area south of usual routes with guidance to coordinate through Oman.
- Iran’s military warned it would attack any foreign force that approaches or enters the strait, and a senior lawmaker said U.S. involvement in managing transits would violate the ceasefire.
- Maritime monitors reported two attacks within hours near Sirik and off Fujairah, with a bulk carrier harassed by small boats and a tanker hit by unknown projectiles, and all crews reported safe.
- The taskforce urged ships to avoid standard lanes flagged as hazardous due to unmitigated mines, a sign that escorts will rely on rerouting rather than immediate clearance operations.
- Hundreds of crews remain stuck on vessels running low on supplies as energy prices climb, and diplomats from Europe and Pakistan press for de-escalation while the ceasefire holds in fragile form.