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A cargo boat navigates the sea near Qeshm Island, Iran, in the Strait of Hormuz. US forces engaged Iranian boats and intercepted missiles in the vital route for oil and gas exports during operations to secure commercial shipping.
Asghar Besharati/Getty Images
The US says it destroyed six Iranian boats and intercepted missiles and drones targeting naval and commercial vessels.The clashes occurred during “Project Freedom”, aimed at securing shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.US forces said they defended both their ships and commercial vessels amid escalating tensions with Iran.The United States has destroyed six Iranian boats and shot down missiles and drones fired at US Navy and commercial vessels by Tehran’s forces, a top US admiral said on Monday.
The military action occurred as American forces sought to facilitate the transit of commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz in an effort dubbed “Project Freedom” that President Donald Trump announced on Sunday.
US Apache and Seahawk helicopters hit “six Iranian small boats threatening commercial shipping,” Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of US Central Command (CENTCOM), told journalists.
US forces also “effectively engaged” all “missiles and drones that were fired at both us and the commercial ships,” Cooper said.
Some cruise missiles were launched at US Navy ships, but most of them, as well as multiple drones, targeted commercial vessels, he said.
Cooper said:
We defended both ourselves and, consistent with our commitment, we defended all the commercial ships.
US and Israeli forces launched a massive military campaign against Iran on 28 February, prompting Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz - a vital route for oil and gas exports - while American forces later launched a blockade of Iranian ports.
Iranian state television said earlier on Monday that the country’s navy had fired cruise missiles, rockets and combat drones near US destroyers crossing the strait in what it described as a “warning shot.”
READ | Iran fires 'warning shots' as US Navy says its ships entered Gulf via Hormuz
CENTCOM said that two US guided-missile destroyers had passed through the strait into the Gulf as part of “Project Freedom,” while two US-flagged merchant vessels transited the opposite way and “are safely headed on their journey.”
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