Washington 5 May 2026 #1

5 May 2026

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed that U.S forces prefer a peaceful effort to “guide” the more than 22,500 mariners stuck on more than 1,550 vessels out of the Gulf. “This is a temporary mission for us”. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Caine, affirmed that Iran attacks do not necessarily violate the ceasefire, arguing that “since the ceasefire was announced, Iran has fired at commercial vessels nine times and seized two container ships, and they’ve attacked U.S forces more than 10 times – all below the threshold of restarting major combat operations at this point”. President Trump stopped short of calling Iranian strikes on the UAE a ceasefire violation, and stated that Iran “better hope [the ceasefire] remains in effect. The best thing that can happen to them is that we keep it in effect.” Subsequently, during the second day of Project Freedom, U.S Central Command announced that 51 vessels “have been directed to turn around or return to port” under the U.S blockade. Meanwhile, Iran has denounced the incidents as a ceasefire violation and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi stressed that recent developments in the Strait of Hormuz have once again proved that there is no military solution to the political crisis in West Asia.