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Iran live updates: Trump's 'Project Freedom' begins Monday amid attacks in strait

Trump on Sunday said that the U.S. will guide ships out of Strait of Hormuz.

Last Updated: May 4, 2026, 7:14 AM EDT

President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" against Iran on Feb. 28, with massive joint U.S.-Israeli strikes targeting military, government and infrastructure sites.

Following the announcement of a two-week ceasefire, initial U.S.-Iran talks in Pakistan in April failed to reach a peace deal.

Trump later announced the open-ended extension of the ceasefire and the continuation of a U.S. blockade until negotiations are concluded "one way or the other."

1 hour and 50 minutes ago

Iran will attack any US forces in Strait of Hormuz, commander says

Maj. Gen. Ali Abdollahi, the commander of Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said in a statement carried by state media on Monday that "any foreign armed force, especially the invading U.S. army, if they intend to approach and enter the Strait of Hormuz, will be subjected to attack."

"We will maintain the security of the Strait of Hormuz with all our might and manage it powerfully," Abdollahi said. The commander said that "all commercial ships and tankers" should "refrain from any action to transit without coordination with the armed forces stationed in the Strait of Hormuz so that their security is not endangered."

The warning came after U.S. Central Command said it would on Monday begin the "Project Freedom" operation "to restore freedom of navigation for commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz." President Donald Trump announced the mission on Sunday.

An Emirati patrol boat (L) is pictured near a tanker anchored in the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from a coastal road near Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, on May 1, 2026.
Fatima Shbair/AP

-ABC News' Joe Simonetti

2:37 AM EDT

US Strait of Hormuz mission will violate ceasefire, Iran official says

Ebrahim Azizi, the chairman of the Iranian parliament's national security committee, warned on Sunday that the planned U.S. mission to escort commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz will be considered "a violation of the ceasefire" by Tehran.

"The Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf will not be managed by Trump's delusional posts," Azizi said, as quoted by the semi-official Fars News Agency.

-ABC News' Will Gretsky

1:54 AM EDT

Trump says Iran negotiations are going 'very well'

While exiting Air Force One in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, President Donald Trump briefly responded to a shouted question from reporters asking him how negotiations with Iran were going.

"Very well," Trump said. The president did not answer any additional questions.

President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews on May 3, 2026.
Matt Rourke/AP

-ABC News' Isabella Murray

1:28 AM EDT

'Project Freedom' to extend defensive umbrella over shipping, official says

U.S. Central Command posted a statement to X on Sunday confirming that its forces will begin supporting "Project Freedom" in the Strait of Hormuz at the direction of President Donald Trump, beginning on Monday.

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

The mission is intended "to restore freedom of navigation for commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz," CENTCOM said.

The U.S. military role will be to extend a U.S. defensive umbrella over ships seeking to leave or enter the Strait of Hormuz, a U.S. official told ABC News. Project Freedom is not about providing escorts to ships, the official said.

"U.S. military support to Project Freedom will include guided-missile destroyers, over 100 land and sea-based aircraft, multi-domain unmanned platforms and 15,000 service members," CENTCOM said in its statement.

PHOTO: U.S. Forces Start Mine Clearance Mission in Strait of Hormuz
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces began setting conditions for clearing mines in the Strait of Hormuz, April 11, as two U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers conducted operations. (U.S. Central Command Photo)
Sgt. 1st Class Michael Hunnisett/U.S. Central Command Public Affairs

-ABC News' Lauren Minore and Luis Martinez

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