U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) head Adm. Brad Cooper told reporters on Monday that the United States destroyed six Iranian boats that were threatening commercial ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
President Donald Trump launched “Project Freedom” on Sunday, an effort by the U.S. Navy to help guide commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz. On a press call with reporters, Cooper said the U.S. returned fire and destroyed Iranian forces who emerged to threaten the commercial ships. (RELATED: Trump’s Ploy To Blow Off Congress Over Iran War Not Playing Well With Legal Scholars)
“We have defeated each and every one of those threats,” Cooper told reporters.
“We defended this, both ourselves and consistent with our commitment, we defended all the commercial ships,” Cooper added. “We had drone launches against commercial ships, all of which were defended against consistent with our commitment, and then the small boats were all going against commercial ships, and all were sunk by Apaches and [inaudible] helicopters.”
Cooper told the Daily Caller that the U.S. has cleared an “effective pathway” through the strait. Two U.S. ships have passed through the strait in the last 24 hours. Following the exchange of fire, Cooper declined to speak about whether the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran was now over.
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— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) May 3, 2026
Rather than directly escorting ships through the strait, Cooper told the Caller that the U.S. has a large defensive operation to help commercial boats through.
“I think we have a much better defensive arrangement in this process, where we have multiple layers that include ships, helicopters, aircraft, airborne early warning, electronic warfare — have a much broader defensive package than you would have ever if you were just escorting. I feel good about that, and it was proven just in the last couple of hours,” Cooper told the Caller.
After saying Iran had “agreed to everything,” the president told reporters that negotiations with the country were not going well.
“Right now, we have negotiations going on. They’re not getting there. They are very disjointed. They’re extremely disjointed,” the president said. “They’re not able to get along with each other as leaders; they don’t know who the leader is. Their military’s been defeated. If we left right now, it would take them 20 years to build back that country. But we’re not satisfied at this moment.”
Trump added that the country was asking for things he “can’t agree to.”
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