Two American-flagged merchant ships sailed through the Strait of Hormuz on May 4, 2026, shielded by U.S. warships in the first escorted convoy under a military operation the Pentagon calls Project Freedom.

Iran’s fast-attack boats are armed with rifles and small machine guns, Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Dan Caine said. The U.S. has targeted Iran’s fleet of fast attack boats, and Caine said it had also shot down small coastal cruise missiles Iran fired from the shore.

The directive to turn its weapons on the boats adds a new element to the Navy's mine-clearing operations in the strait, which began this month.

U.S. Army AH-64 Apache helicopters destroyed six Iranian fast-attack boats in the Strait of Hormuz in late May 2026, part of a military operation the Pentagon has designated Project Freedom. Roughly 1,

The exchange occurred a day after President Donald Trump announced the Navy would help commercial vessels transit the Strait of Hormuz.

(.) By Jonathan Saul LONDON, April 23 (Reuters) - Iran's use of a swarm of small, fast boats to seize two container ships near the Strait of Hormuz could undermine suggestions U.S. forces have disabled its naval threat and reveals the challenges facing reopening one of the world's most important oil export routes.