'False': CENTCOM Rejects Said Project Freedom has not Resumed Through Strait of Hormuz
The US Central Command says Project Freedom has not resumed, contradicting recent media reports of renewed escort operations through the critical waterway.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - The United States military moved swiftly on Tuesday to quash reports circulating in recent media that American naval forces had resumed escorting commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, calling the claims categorically false.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) posted the denial to its official account on X, stating plainly: "Project Freedom has not resumed, and US forces are not currently escorting commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz."
The statement left little room for ambiguity. CENTCOM labeled recent media reporting on the matter false, pushing back against what it described as inaccurate claims that the Navy had restarted or was assisting commercial transits through the strategically vital chokepoint.
The denial comes amid an already volatile backdrop. US forces launched a series of strikes against Iranian military positions in southern Iran on Monday in what CENTCOM characterized as a "self-defense" operation targeting missile launch sites and vessels attempting to emplace naval mines. Explosions were reported near the port city of Bandar Abbas around midnight local time, according to Iran's state broadcaster IRIB.
Project Freedom's Origins
Project Freedom was announced in early May by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who described it as a defensive, temporary, and narrowly scoped mission to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping following Iran's blockade of the waterway.
The blockade has trapped thousands of cargo and tanker vessels inside the Persian Gulf, halting the free flow of commerce across the region.
The initiative was presented as separate from Operation Epic Fury, a broader military campaign that has been under a ceasefire since Apr. 8.
Tuesday's denial came as Iranian negotiators arrived in Doha, Qatar, for a fresh round of talks aimed at concluding the months-long war, a diplomatic effort now shadowed by Monday's strikes.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking during a visit to India, maintained that a deal remains within reach despite the escalation, though he described the strait's continued blockade as "unlawful" and "unsustainable," pledging it would be reopened "one way or the other."
With Project Freedom formally suspended and military and diplomatic tracks running simultaneously, Tuesday's CENTCOM statement underscores the fluidity, and fragility, of the current situation in and around one of the world's most critical waterways.