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The United States said Iranian attacks on shipping and forces in the Persian Gulf have so far remained below the level that would trigger a broader conflict, a senior US military official said. “They’ve attacked US forces more than 10 times, all below the threshold of restarting major combat operations at this point,” said Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He said Iran had also fired at commercial vessels nine times and seized two container ships since a ceasefire was announced, adding the actions were part of efforts to disrupt global trade. Caine said around 22,500 mariners...

Iranians need access to weapons to challenge their rulers, President Donald Trump said on Monday, arguing that protesters would fight effectively if armed but are currently outmatched by government forces. “They have to have guns. And I think they’re getting some guns. As soon as they have guns, they’ll fight like, as good as anybody there is,” Trump said in an interview with The Hugh Hewitt Show. Trump also suggested that US military pressure had already significantly weakened Iran and that further action could be completed within a short timeframe. Trump: The Iranian people have to have guns and I...

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth labels the new "Project Freedom" as a strictly defensive mission to bypass legal war power limits, while mocking Iran’s failed attempt to maintain the Hormuz blockade. In a special briefing today, top U.S. defense officials addressed the significant escalation of Iranian aggression that occurred overnight. General Caine provided a detailed account of the ceasefire violations, confirming that Iran launched attacks against Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and critical fuel facilities at the Port of Fujairah. According to General Caine, Iran directly targeted American naval assets during the surge. "Iran launched at least nine missiles toward American...

Two U.S. Navy destroyers, the USS Truxtun and USS Mason, successfully fought their way through the Strait of Hormuz after repelling a massive coordinated barrage of Iranian missiles, drones, and fast-attack boats. Two U.S. Navy destroyers successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz on Monday despite coming under a heavy, coordinated Iranian assault involving small boats, missiles, and drones, CBS News reported on Tuesday. The USS Truxtun (DDG-103) and USS Mason (DDG-87) entered the Persian Gulf while facing what defense officials described as a “sustained barrage.” The ships were supported by U.S. fighter aircraft and AH-64 Apache helicopters, which helped neutralize...

U.S. Forces sank six Iranian small boats near the Strait of Hormuz amid President Donald Trump's "Project Freedom" on Monday. U.S. Central Command announced the engagement in a press call with reporters, saying Iran's military capability has been "dramatically degraded." CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper said on the call that Iran historically has deployed "between 20 and 40 small boats" when harassing vessels in the strait. "Today, we saw just six, and eliminated them quickly," Cooper said. "We have an enormous amount of capability and firepower concentrated in and around the Strait, including 864 Apache and MH 60 Seahawk helicopters...

There's been a lot of bluffing by Iran over the last few weeks during the tenuous "ceasefire," and it looks like the United States has finally called it. As RedState reported, the U.S. Navy successfully escorted multiple American-flagged vessels through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday. Now, CENTCOM is confirming that hostilities have already resumed. According to Kassy Akiva, who attended a press briefing with Admiral Brad Cooper, six Iranian boats were destroyed. What's left of the regime also tried to launch missiles at U.S. Naval ships, but they were successfully intercepted. He says 6 Iranian small boats were eliminated...

US forces sank six Iranian small boats deployed to harass traffic in the Strait of Hormuz Monday, shortly before President Trump warned the Islamic Republic will be “blown off the face of the earth” if it interferes with efforts to reopen the crucial waterway. Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of US Central Command (CENTCOM) told reporters on a Monday press call that while Iran historically has deployed “between 20 and 40 small boats” to threaten commercial shipping in the strait, “today, we saw just six, and eliminated them quickly.” “We have an enormous amount of capability and firepower concentrated in...

American attack helicopters sank six Iranian small boats in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday — as the Trump administration works to back the regime into a corner — forcing it to choose between allowing ships through the strait or attacking them and provoking a return to war. Two US-flagged cargo ships successfully passed through the strait as part of a new American initiative, “Project Freedom.” Frustrated by the lack of progress with Iranian negotiators, Trump is allegedly forcing Iran’s hand by deploying US warships directly into the Strait of Hormuz to escort neutral vessels that have been trapped in...

Venezuela’s deposed president, Nicolás Maduro, never enjoyed the charisma or genuine popularity of his predecessor, ‘El Comandante’ Hugo Chávez. So all the murals, billboards and installations dotted around Caracas urging the release of the 63-year-old statesman – along with his wife Cilia Flores – from American captivity, don’t exactly feel like a grassroots effort. ‘Bring them home!’ reads one mural, evoking the Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas. Meanwhile, a stopwatch installed in Caracas’s Bolivar Square counts how long it has been since the presidential couple were abducted by the US army in early January. Maduro currently resides in the Metropolitan...

A new poll shows that 74 percent of people think America is winning the war with Iran. That’s according to a new Harvard CAPS/ Harris Poll taken on April 23-26, 2026. Poll: Majority in U.S. Think America Winning in War With Iran (Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll) April 23-26, 202674% think the U.S. is winning in the war with Iran, including 60% of Democrats, 91% of Republicans, and 70% of Independents. pic.twitter.com/6jHng5NCnO— Mark Dubowitz (@mdubowitz) May 3, 2026Remarkable numbers—especially given a mainstream media narrative that insists America is losing and the Islamic Republic of Iran is winning. https://t.co/FgVWL6oBUo— Mark Dubowitz (@mdubowitz) May...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. military said Monday that two American-flagged merchant ships had successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz after it launched a new plan to restore traffic. Iran has effectively closed the critical waterway since the U.S. and Israel launched the war in late February.U.S. President Donald Trump's new initiative to break Iran's chokehold has escalated the standoff. The U.S. military denied Iran's claims that it had struck an American Navy vessel. The United Arab Emirates meanwhile issued its first missile alert since a ceasefire reached in early April and accused Iran of targeting an...

U.S. Central Command (Centcom) on Monday dismissed a claim from Iranian state media that a U.S. warship was hit by Iranian missiles. “CLAIM: Iranian state media claims that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps hit a U.S. warship with two missiles,” Centcom said in a post on the social platform X early Monday morning. “TRUTH: No U.S. Navy ships have been struck. U.S. forces are supporting Project Freedom and enforcing the naval blockade on Iranian ports,” Centcom added, referencing an effort announced by President Trump on Sunday to free up ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s Tasnim news agency, in...

Iran’s Fars news agency, citing local sources, reports two missiles hit a US navy vessel near Jask island after it ignored warnings from the Revolutionary Guard to halt. The reported attack comes after President Trump said the US will begin “Project Freedom” on Monday to “guide” stranded ships out of the Strait of Hormuz. US Central Command said it would support the effort with 15,000 military personnel, more than 100 land and sea-based aircraft, along with warships and drones.

A Panama-flagged cargo vessel operated by a South Korean shipping company caught fire following an explosion while anchored in the Strait of Hormuz late Monday, according to government officials. No casualties were reported. The vessel, identified as HMM Namu, was anchored outside the port limits of Umm Al Quwain when the incident occurred at around 8:40 p.m., authorities said. The ship had 24 crew members on board, including six South Koreans and 18 foreign nationals. The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said an explosion was observed on the port side of the engine room, with information relayed from a nearby...

Iran’s regime lost the war the moment American force and economic pressure exposed its bluff; what remains is the slow collapse of a terror state running out of money, options, and time.Some nearly stochastic notes on Iran. I begin by singing the same song I have been crooning since President Trump announced the ceasefire and naval blockade in mid-April. The war is over. If this were a novel, we’d be in epilogue territory where we tie up some loose threads in the plot and learn about the fates of various characters.First, let’s talk about money, or rather Iran’s lack thereof....

On Saturday, President Donald Trump told reporters he would be looking at a new offer from Iran to end the conflict. "I'm looking at it [on the plane]. I'll let you know about it later,' he said. "They told me about the concept of the deal. They're going to give me the exact wording now." He said that they didn't necessarily have to make a deal with Iran. But if the U.S. would leave right now, it would take Iran 20 years to rebuild. However, he said something very important, "We're going to do it so no one has to...

The war between the US and Iran is “likely” to restart, a senior Iranian official predicted on the heels of comments by President Trump that the US might be “better off” without an agreement. A “renewed conflict between Iran and the United States is likely,” said Mohammad Jafar Asadi, a high-level officer in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Iran’s leadership, which has been decimated by US strikes, wants to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the US blockade before reestablishing nuclear talks, according to details of its latest counterproposal, which was presented to intermediaries in Pakistan. Trump told reporters...

The White House is arguing to lawmakers that President Donald Trump does not need to disengage troops from the conflict with Iran in order to comply with the War Powers Act because an extended ceasefire has effectively ended military hostilities. The Trump administration faced a Friday deadline under the 1973 law that is designed to end military operations after 60 days unless Congress has formally blessed the mission. The White House essentially states that the 60-day clock no longer applies, in letters sent Friday to Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate President Pro Tempore Charles E. Grassley and obtained by CQ...

One of the potential military options that Trump will reportedly be considering is a “short and powerful” wave of airstrikes… Of course any new attack by the U.S. will likely provoke a very strong response from the Iranians. In fact, one Iranian official is pledging that there would be “long and painful strikes” in retaliation…

Iran is considering using dolphins armed with mines to blow open the Strait of Hormuz, which has been under a financially crippling US military blockade for weeks, according to a report. While the tense extended cease-fire with the US holds, a growing number of Iranian hardliners believe that the financial crisis sparked by the US blocking Iran’s oil exports amounts to an act of war and have called for resuming military action. That military action could include unleashing previously unused weapons to attack US warships deployed in the region — including mine-carrying dolphins, according to Iranian officials, the Wall Street...