Boom: CENTCOM Announces First Ships Freed From the Strait

Well, that didn't take long.

As we reported, the U.S. started "Project Freedom" on Monday morning to help free shipping that had to get through the Strait of Hormuz. As President Trump explained, the priority was to free the ships that had been trapped since the start of the military operation.

The U.S., while not necessarily escorting ships, would be providing guidance and help, and would be "in the vicinity" to help facilitate the ships' safe passage. Trump warned that the regime should not use force against the ships, or they would not enjoy the response.

The Iranian regime was quick with propaganda on Monday morning, claiming they hit a U.S. military ship. But U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) obliterated that claim.

CENTCOM Drops Details on Strait Push - and Obliterates Iran’s Fake Strike Claim

Now, CENTCOM has announced that they've freed the first ships from the "Arabian Gulf."

U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers are currently operating in the Arabian Gulf after transiting the Strait of Hormuz in support of Project Freedom. American forces are actively assisting efforts to restore transit for commercial shipping. As a first step, 2 U.S.-flagged merchant… pic.twitter.com/SVDxDhK72I
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) May 4, 2026

U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers are currently operating in the Arabian Gulf after transiting the Strait of Hormuz in support of Project Freedom. American forces are actively assisting efforts to restore transit for commercial shipping. As a first step, 2 U.S.-flagged merchant vessels have successfully transited through the Strait of Hormuz and are safely headed on their journey.

That's a good start, and it shows that it works. That's the main thing they want to signal to other ships. They likely did the U.S.-flagged merchant ships first since they're U.S. and they're also the easiest to coordinate with.

Now, they can say, "Look, that worked," and that will give others the impetus to make the move.

Side note: The "Arabian Gulf" is the Persian Gulf. But that's how the U.S. Gulf allies refer to it, while Iran uses Persian Gulf, so it sounds like the Trump administration is giving it the nod.

But there may be bumps until the regime truly gets the message.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is reporting that one of its tankers was attacked by Iranian drones on Monday morning. They hit a crude oil tanker belonging to the Abu Dhabi state oil firm ADNOC. But it was empty, and fortunately, there were no injuries. It's not clear if the ship sought guidance from the U.S.

The UAE, which was already upset with Iran for all its attacks on them, immediately called it a "terrorist attack."

Egypt and the Gulf Cooperation Council of the six Arab Persian Gulf nations condemned the attack on the UAE tanker.

In a separate statement, Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), "condemned, in the strongest terms, the treacherous attacks that targeted an Emirati tanker belonging to Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) while it was passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
"These brutal Iranian attacks, targeting ships passing through the Strait, constitutes piracy and a serious threat to the security of maritime routes and straits, and represents a flagrant violation of the relevant Security Council resolutions," Albudaiwi said.

Iran doesn't help itself when it does this, and the GCC said it supported the UAE taking measures to protect itself. So Iran may have other people firing back at them now.

Editor's Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.

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