Iran live updates: Attacks on US below threshold of resuming fighting, Caine says

The fragile ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran continues to hold, with Iranian attacks being below the threshold of ending the agreement, U.S. officials told reporters on Tuesday.

"Since the ceasefire was announced, Iran has fired at commercial vessels nine times and seized two container ships, and they've attacked U.S. forces more than 10 times, all below the threshold of restarting major combat operations at this point," Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters Tuesday.

The decision to restart military operations is a political one Caine and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not comment on.

"Right now the ceasefire certainly holds but we're going to be watching very, very closely," Hegseth said.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said the U.S. is "locked and loaded" in the Strait of Hormuz as it moves to open up the waterway.

"We prefer this to be a peaceful operation, but are locked and loaded to defend our people, our ships, our aircraft, and this mission without hesitation," Hegseth said during a press conference at the Pentagon Tuesday.

Hegseth warned Iran, telling it to "let innocent ships pass freely."

American ships are "shouldering the initial risk from the front" in its efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Hegseth said Tuesday.

"We're not looking for a fight. But Iran also cannot be allowed to block innocent countries and their goods from an international waterway," Hegseth said.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are scheduled to hold a press conference at 8 a.m. ET on Tuesday, according to the Department of Defense.

South Korea's Defense Ministry on Tuesday said it is "communicating closely with the United States and other relevant countries" regarding the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, after a South Korean-owned tanker was hit by an alleged Iranian attack off the coast of the United Arab Emirates on Monday.

President Donald Trump blamed Tehran for the incident, writing on social media of his "Project Freedom" operation that began Monday, "Perhaps it's time for South Korea to come and join the mission!"

The South Korean Defense Ministry said Tuesday that it had been "actively participating in discussions on international cooperation to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz."

The statement added that the ministry will "carefully review our position while comprehensively taking into account international law, the safety of international maritime routes, the [Republic of Korea]-U.S. alliance and the security situation on the Korean Peninsula and domestic legal procedures."

-ABC News' Joohee Cho and Joe Simonetti