Iran warns US Navy to stay clear of Hormuz after Trump says US will help stranded ships

DUBAI/DORAL, Florida – Iran’s military warned US forces on May 4 not to enter the Strait of Hormuz after President Donald Trump said the United States would start helping to free ships stranded in the Gulf by the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Mr Trump gave few details of the plan to aid ships and their crews that have been “locked up” in the vital waterway and are running low on food and other supplies more than two months since the conflict began.

“We have told these Countries that we will guide their Ships safely out of these restricted Waterways, so that they can freely and ably get on with their business,” Mr Trump said in a post on his Truth Social site on May 3.

The unified command of Iran’s armed forces responded by warning US forces to stay out of the strait.

Its forces would “respond harshly” to any threat, it added, telling commercial ships and oil tankers to refrain from any movement in the absence of coordination with Iran’s military.

“We have repeatedly said the security of the Strait of Hormuz is in our hands and that the safe passage of vessels needs to be coordinated with the armed forces,” Mr Ali Abdollahi, the head of the forces’ unified command said in the statement.

“We warn that any foreign armed forces, especially the aggressive US army, will be attacked if they intend to approach and enter the Strait of Hormuz.”

US Central Command said it would support the effort with 15,000 military personnel, more than 100 land and sea-based aircraft, along with warships and drones.

“Our support for this defensive mission is essential to regional security and the global economy as we also maintain the naval blockade,” Admiral Brad Cooper, the CENTCOM commander, said in a statement.

Hundreds of ships and as many as 20,000 seafarers have been unable to transit the strait during the conflict, the International Maritime Organisation says.

Numerous executives from the shipping and oil industries have said they need an end to hostilities and some form of peace deal because they do not regard military convoys as a solution that would allow normal traffic to resume and the shipping industry to feel safe.

Asked on May 4 about the US response to Tehran’s latest offer, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said he would not go into details but took another swipe at Washington’s stance.

“The US will not easily give up its habit of maximalism and unreasonable demands. We are still faced with a side that both changes its views regularly and raises issues that could complicate any diplomatic process,” he told reporters.

Some vessels attempting to transit the strait have reported being fired on, and Iran has seized others.

Soon after Mr Trump’s comments, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said a tanker had reported being hit by unknown projectiles in the strait.

The agency said all crew were reported safe in the incident, which occurred 78 nautical miles north of Fujairah, in the United Arab Emirates, but few details were immediately available.

Iran has been blocking nearly all shipping from the Gulf apart from its own for more than two months, sending energy prices soaring.

Some vessels attempting to transit the strait have reported being fired on, and Iran seized several other ships.

In a rare piece of good news, Pakistan said on May 4 the US had handed over 22 crew from an Iranian container vessel that American forces had seized in April in what Tehran called a violation of international law.

Pakistan, which has been trying to broker a peace deal, described the US move as a “confidence-building measure”.

The Trump administration has been seeking help from other countries to form an international coalition to secure shipping in the strait. CENTCOM said the latest effort would combine “diplomatic action with military coordination”.

It was not immediately clear which countries the US operation would aid or how the operation would work. It will not necessarily include US Navy ships escorting commercial ships, Axios reporter Barak Ravid said in a post on X. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mr Trump threatened that any interference with the US operation would “have to be dealt with forcefully”.

Iran reviewing US response

Crude oil prices edged higher on May 4 and analysts said they were likely to remain above US$100 a barrel with no peace deal in sight and the Strait of Hormuz still largely blocked.

The United States and Israel suspended their bombing campaign against Iran four weeks ago, and US and Iranian officials held one round of talks. But attempts to set up further meetings have so far failed.

Iranian state media said on May 3 Washington had conveyed its response to Iran’s 14-point proposal via Pakistan, and that Tehran was now reviewing it. Neither side gave details.

A senior Iranian official has confirmed that Tehran envisages ending the war on all fronts - including Israel’s attacks on Lebanon - and resolving the shipping standoff first, while leaving talks on Iran’s nuclear programme for later.

Washington wants Tehran to give up its stockpile of more than 400kg of highly enriched uranium, which the United States says could power a bomb.

Iran says its nuclear programme is peaceful, although it is willing to discuss some curbs in return for the lifting of sanctions. It had accepted such curbs in a 2015 deal that Mr Trump abandoned.

Mr Trump faces domestic pressure to break Iran’s hold on the Strait of Hormuz, which has driven up US gasoline prices, threatening to cause a voter backlash against his Republican Party in midterm congressional elections in November. REUTERS