{"id":2352,"date":"2026-05-05T23:41:50","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T18:11:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/?p=2352"},"modified":"2026-05-05T23:44:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T18:14:20","slug":"us-launches-mission-to-break-gulf-blockade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/?p=2352","title":{"rendered":"US launches mission to break Gulf blockade"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"450\" height=\"300\" data-id=\"2356\" src=\"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Business-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2356\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Business-1.png 450w, https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Business-1-300x200.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Washington, The United States has launched a military mission to break what it calls Iran\u2019s blockade of commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, deploying warships and aircraft to escort vessels through one of the world\u2019s most critical oil routes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>US Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth said the operation, dubbed \u201cProject Freedom\u201d, was ordered by President Donald Trump to \u201crestart the free flow of commerce through the Strait of Hormuz.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He described the mission as \u201cdefensive in nature, focused in scope, and temporary in duration, with one mission, protecting innocent commercial shipping from Iranian aggression.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hegseth said US forces would avoid entering Iranian waters or airspace, adding, \u201cWe\u2019re not looking for a fight.\u201d But he stressed that Iran \u201ccannot be allowed to block innocent countries and their goods from an international waterway.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He accused Tehran of \u201charassing civilian vessels, threatening mariners from every nation indiscriminately and weaponising a critical choke point,\u201d calling it \u201ca form of international extortion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Two US-flagged commercial ships, escorted by American destroyers, have already passed through the strait, demonstrating that \u201cthe lane is clear,\u201d he said, adding that \u201chundreds more ships from nations around the world are lining up to transit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Joint Chiefs Chairman Air Force Gen. Dan Caine said Iran had \u201crepeatedly threatened and attacked commercial shipping\u201d over the past seven weeks to \u201ceffectively cut off commercial traffic and damage the global economy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He noted that the strait carries \u201capproximately one fifth of the global oil consumption,\u201d underscoring its importance to global markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the Pentagon, more than 22,500 mariners aboard over 1,550 commercial vessels remain stranded in the region as a result of Iranian actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Caine said Iran has fired at commercial vessels nine times since a ceasefire was announced, seized two container ships and attacked US forces more than ten times, though \u201call below the threshold of restarting major combat operations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The US has deployed over 15,000 personnel, along with guided-missile destroyers, helicopters and more than 100 aircraft, to establish a protected corridor for shipping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hegseth said the US had created a \u201cred, white and blue dome\u201d over the strait, providing round-the-clock protection for vessels, and warned that any attack would trigger \u201coverwhelming and devastating American firepower.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite recent exchanges of fire, he said \u201cthe ceasefire is not over\u201d and urged Iran to act \u201cprudently\u201d to avoid escalation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He also called on US allies to step in, saying, \u201cThe world needs this waterway a lot more than we do,\u201d and that Washington expects partners to assume responsibility over time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, The United States has launched a military mission to break what it calls Iran\u2019s blockade of commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, deploying warships and aircraft to escort [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2356,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-display","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2352"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2352\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2358,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2352\/revisions\/2358"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsaxis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}