{"id":3229,"date":"2026-05-04T03:54:45","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T03:54:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/?p=3229"},"modified":"2026-05-04T10:34:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T10:34:10","slug":"us-military-confirms-it-will-launch-project-freedom-to-secure-transit-in-strait-of-hormuz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/04\/us-military-confirms-it-will-launch-project-freedom-to-secure-transit-in-strait-of-hormuz\/","title":{"rendered":"US military&#8217;s \u2018Project Freedom\u2019 to &#8216;secure&#8217; transit in Strait of Hormuz"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Sunday that its forces will \u201csupport merchant vessels seeking to freely transit\u201d the Strait of Hormuz under President Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cProject Freedom\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cUS Central Command (CENTCOM) forces will begin supporting Project Freedom, on May 4, to restore freedom of navigation for commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz,\u201d it said in a post on the US social media platform X.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is likely to result in a strong response from Iran as that country is like to see it as another major violation of the ceasefire despite the US calling it a &#8220;defensive action&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) on Monday warned it will target US forces if they attempt to approach or enter the Strait of Hormuz, escalating tensions in the already volatile region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed alignleft is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Approximately 15,000 US servicemen; destroyers and over 100 aircraft will be involved in Operation Project Freedom to free ships blocked in the Strait of Hormuz because of the US-Iranian military conflict, the US Central Command said:<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/vWHCMjuciD\">https:\/\/t.co\/vWHCMjuciD<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Bts2EtOb7V\">pic.twitter.com\/Bts2EtOb7V<\/a><\/p>&mdash; TASS (@tassagency_en) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tassagency_en\/status\/2051147374446170361?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 4, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe warn that any foreign armed force, especially the invading American army, will be attacked if they attempt to approach and enter the Strait of Hormuz,\u201d the IRGC said in a statement carried by state-run broadcaster IRIB.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the statement, any safe passage and navigation in the strait must occur in coordination with Tehran \u201cunder any circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The corps also urged ships and tankers to \u201crefrain from any attempt to transit\u201d the waterway without prior coordination, warning that doing so could jeopardize their security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>CENTCOM added that support for merchant vessels transiting the strait will include guided-missile destroyers, more than 100 land and sea-based aircraft, multi-domain unmanned platforms and 15,000 service members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOur support for this defensive mission is essential to regional security and the global economy as we also maintain the naval blockade,\u201d said CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <em>Axios<\/em> news site reported on Sunday, however, that the new initiative may not involve US Navy vessels directly escorting commercial ships, citing two American officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One official said US Navy ships would be \u201cin the vicinity\u201d if needed to prevent Iran\u2019s military from targetting commercial vessels transiting the strait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The officials added that the Navy plans to provide commercial ships with guidance on the safest maritime routes, particularly those not mined by the Iranian military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Trump said on Sunday on his Truth Social platform that the United States would begin escorting neutral foreign vessels safely out of the Strait of Hormuz starting Monday morning Middle East time, describing the effort as a \u201chumanitarian gesture\u201d toward countries caught up in a conflict they have no part in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He named the initiative &#8220;Project Freedom,&#8221; saying many of the stranded ships were running low on food and other essentials needed to keep large crews in healthy condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The move comes as disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz continue to ripple through global markets, with energy, fertiliser and key industrial commodities posting sharp price gains over the past two months. &#8211; AA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Sunday that its forces will \u201csupport merchant vessels seeking to freely transit\u201d the Strait of Hormuz under President Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cProject Freedom\u201d. \u201cUS Central Command (CENTCOM) forces will begin supporting Project Freedom, on May 4, to restore freedom of navigation for commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz,\u201d [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2247,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,205],"tags":[65,23,24],"class_list":{"0":"post-3229","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-conflict-zones","8":"category-secondary-story","9":"tag-iran","10":"tag-trump","11":"tag-united-states"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3229"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3271,"href":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3229\/revisions\/3271"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}