Tehran denies US claim about sinking Iranian boats
The head of US Central Command (CENTCOM), Admiral Brad Cooper, told journalists on Monday that the American military had “eliminated” a small Iranian naval force that was allegedly threatening commercial shipping in the key waterway.
The reported attack was part of Project Freedom, announced by President Donald Trump on Sunday, to escort tankers and other vessels stuck in the Strait of Hormuz since the US and Israel launched their attack on Iran in late February.
“The US claim regarding the sinking of a number of Iranian combat boats is a lie,” a senior Iranian military official told the IRIB news agency on Monday.
The CENTCOM commander claimed that the US military had sunk at least six Iranian boats, while boasting of what he called “an enormous amount of capability and firepower concentrated in and around the strait, including AH-64 Apache and MH-60 Seahawk helicopters.”
Earlier on Monday, Iran’s Fars News Agency reported that the Iranian military had hit a US Navy patrol boat near the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM, in turn, rejected the claim, stating that no US Navy ships had been struck.
Washington and Tehran remain at odds over the fate of the key waterway, which accounts for about 20% of global seaborne oil trade. Iran reportedly suggested a new mechanism to govern the strait as part of its latest peace proposal, which was rejected by the US.
Trump ordered a naval blockade of Iranian ports in a bid to make Iran agree to a peace settlement that would be satisfactory to Washington. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called the blockade an “act of war” violating a ceasefire the sides reached in early April.
“Project Freedom is Project Deadlock,” Araghchi said in a post on X, warning Washington to “be wary of being dragged back into quagmire by ill-wishers.”
