Iran has warned that its forces will attack United States troops if they attempt to enter or operate in the Strait of Hormuz under President Donald Trump’s new ship escort plan. The warning raises the risk of a direct clash in one of the world’s most strategic waterways, even as a fragile ceasefire remains in place.
Trump announced that the US will begin escorting foreign commercial ships trapped by the blockade in Hormuz, in a mission he called Project Freedom. He described the plan as a humanitarian effort to help vessels that have been stranded for weeks, with crews running low on food and other supplies.
In response, Iran’s military central command said any safe passage through the strait must be coordinated with its forces under all circumstances. Major General Ali Abdollahi, speaking through state media, declared that any foreign armed force, especially the US military, that tries to approach or enter Hormuz without Iranian approval would be “targeted and attacked.”
Tehran argued that the US escort mission would amount to interference in its territorial and security zone, and would violate the terms of the ceasefire agreed in the wider US Iran conflict. Iranian officials maintain that Washington cannot unilaterally operate in the strait while still enforcing a naval blockade against Iranian ports.
US Central Command has said it will deploy guided missile destroyers, more than 100 land and sea based aircraft, unmanned platforms and around 15,000 personnel to support the Hormuz operation. Analysts note that this level of military presence, so close to Iranian units, increases the chances of incidents, miscalculations or rapid escalation.
Trump has framed the escort plan as both a humanitarian move and a pressure tactic to keep Iran at the negotiating table. Security experts say Tehran now faces a choice between challenging the US operation militarily, which could restart full scale war, or tolerating it while talks over a broader peace deal continue.
The Strait of Hormuz is a vital corridor for global energy supplies, with a significant share of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas passing through it in normal times. Any confrontation that disrupts shipping there could push up global energy prices, unsettle financial markets and deepen the economic impact of the existing conflict.
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