US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday that a ceasefire with Iran remains in place, despite continued exchanges of fire in the Gulf and rising tensions around the Strait of Hormuz.
Speaking at the Pentagon, Hegseth insisted the truce announced in April had not collapsed, even as both sides engage in limited military actions.
“The ceasefire is not over,” he said, adding that Washington would continue to respond forcefully to any threats.
The remarks come as the United States pushes to secure maritime traffic through the strait, a vital corridor for global energy supplies. Hegseth said US forces had established a safe passage, with hundreds of commercial vessels preparing to transit the waterway.
He also dismissed Iranian claims of control over the strait, saying: “They said they control it. They do not.”
The US military said it had sunk six Iranian boats and intercepted missiles and drones launched toward the Gulf, part of an operation ordered by President Donald Trump to escort tankers through the area.
The campaign, dubbed “Project Freedom,” aims to counter Iran’s effective blockade of the strait since the conflict began on February 28.
According to Dan Caine, Iran has repeatedly targeted commercial shipping since the ceasefire was declared on April 7, including nine attacks on vessels and the seizure of two container ships. He added that US forces had also come under attack more than 10 times.
However, Caine said the incidents had so far remained below the threshold of full-scale conflict.
Regional tensions escalated further after reports of explosions and fires on commercial ships in the Gulf, as well as a missile strike that ignited an oil facility in the United Arab Emirates.
The US has also moved to enforce a maritime blockade on Iran, restricting vessels from entering or leaving Iranian ports.
The Strait of Hormuz — through which roughly a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas once passed — remains at the centre of the standoff, with Washington seeking to restore the flow of energy exports amid ongoing hostilities.