US continues effort to steer ships through Strait of Hormuz, insists Iran’s military operations are over
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Ten unidentified sailors have died as a result of the ongoing conflict in the Strait of Hormuz, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Tuesday, as he said the US would continue to send its assets to protect freedom of navigation in the key passage, which Iran has successfully blocked.
Before the US and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, about 20 percent of the world’s oil was going through this crisis every day. Hundreds of ships with thousands of sailors stayed for weeks in the Persian Gulf.
“They’re alone, they’re starving, they’re in danger and at least 10 sailors have died because of that, they’re human sailors,” Rubio said, without giving further details.
‘Defensive performance’
Rubio emphasized that the US was acting in self-defense in enforcing its blockade of Iranian ports. The first military campaign against Iran is over, he said.
“The operation is over. Epic Fury – as the president reported to Congress – we’re done with that phase of it,” he said. “Now we are in this Project of Freedom.”
Joe Sestak, the former deputy head of the US military, says that ships stuck in the Strait of Hormuz may be reluctant to accept US President Donald Trump’s proposal to direct them due to uncertainty about the US plan and Iran’s ability to continue restricting traffic through the crisis.
“We only respond when we are attacked first. This is a defensive operation,” Rubio said. “If no shots are fired at these ships and no shots are fired at us, we will not fire. But if we are fired upon, we will respond.”
Rubio said the United States is in contact with a number of ships about helping to get them out of the port, echoing comments made earlier Tuesday by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
So far only two ships, both American-flagged merchant ships, are known to have passed.
The US Central Command said earlier that Iran had launched several missiles, drones and small boats at civilian vessels under the protection of the US military, and that US helicopters had sunk six small boats involved in the attack. It denied reports from Iran that American ships had been hit.
The UAE is still under attack
The United Arab Emirates also said it was under attack by Iranian missiles and non-aligned aircraft on Tuesday, as Washington said a fragile ceasefire was in place.
Rubio said it was time for Tehran to “accept the reality of the situation,” adding that US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were continuing to look for a diplomatic solution.
That solution would have to deal with whatever nuclear material Iran may have buried “somewhere,” Rubio said.
“The president has made it clear that part of the discussion should not only be about enrichment, but what happens to this thing that is buried in a certain place that they still cannot reach if they want to dig it up,” he said.
Rubio declined to give details on what progress had been made and said a real deal would not have to be written in one day.
“This is very complicated, and it is very complicated, but we have to have a diplomatic solution that is very clear about the topics they are willing to discuss and the level and the agreements they are willing to make in the beginning so that those discussions are beneficial,” he said.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said the ceasefire with Iran has not been violated despite the expansion of the Strait of Hormuz and the wider Persian Gulf. But US President Donald Trump has warned Iran that it ‘knows what it has to do’ to avoid violating the fragile deal.
China’s role
As Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi prepares to visit China on Wednesday, Rubio says he hopes Tehran’s allies in Beijing will reiterate the need for Iran to stop interfering in the vital waterway as the fragile ceasefire continues.
“I hope the Chinese tell him what needs to be told,” Rubio said in response to a reporter’s question about the upcoming visit. “And what you do in the dirt causes you to be separated from the rest of the world. You are bad at this.”
The secretary went on to say that China, more than the US, is suffering because of Iran’s actions in this crisis, and he said that the world’s power is an externally driven economy that depends on exports that pass through Hormuz.
“It is in China’s interest that Iran stop blocking the flow,” he added.
