U.S. Navy destroyers fended off a sustained barrage of Iranian missiles, attack drones, and small boats Monday as American forces worked to shepherd two commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, President Trump told reporters. Trump said U.S. forces destroyed seven or eight Iranian small boats during the encounter.
The captain of one vessel caught in the middle described conditions aboard his stranded ship to the BBC on Tuesday. Captain Raman Kapoor said he and his crew face "mental not material pressure" as their vessel is surrounded by the sound of "hundreds" of missiles and explosions.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Tuesday the ceasefire with Iran "certainly holds" for now. He described Project Freedom, the U.S. effort to guide commercial ships through the strait, as a "temporary" operation that is entirely separate from the broader military campaign against Iran.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio went further, declaring the previous phase of fighting officially finished. "The operation, Epic Fury, is concluded," Rubio told reporters at his press briefing. "We achieved the objectives of that operation." He said the U.S. has now moved to Project Freedom, the commercial shipping escort mission. He declined to detail where nuclear negotiations with Iran currently stand, saying only that Iran's enriched uranium stockpile is being addressed at the table.
The United Arab Emirates said Iran launched a missile and drone attack on the Gulf nation for a second consecutive day Tuesday. Iran had fired 15 missiles at the UAE on Monday, wounding at least three workers.
Trump, speaking separately, said Iran should "wave the white flag of surrender" and accused Iranian leaders of playing games in negotiations. He said higher oil prices are a "small price to pay" to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline stood at $4.48, according to AAA.
Rubio was blunt about the stakes. "If Iran had a nuclear weapon and they decided to close the straits and make our gas prices like $9 a gallon or $8 a gallon, we wouldn't be able to do anything about it because they have a nuclear weapon," he told reporters. "A nuclear-armed Iran could do whatever the hell they want with the straits, and there's nothing anyone would be able to do about it."
Rubio also called on Iran's leadership to come to the negotiating table, though he did not soften his assessment of the people on the other side. "The top people in that government are, to say the least, you know, they're insane in the brain," he said. He added that the U.S. is "only responding if attacked first," framing Project Freedom as a defensive and commercial operation rather than an act of escalation.
The ceasefire's immediate test will come from Iran's continued attacks on the UAE and the ongoing standoff in the strait, where stranded commercial vessels and their crews remain caught between the two powers.
