U.S. Fires on Iranian Forces, Reopens Strait of Hormuz After UAE Attack Claim

The United States moved to reopen the Strait of Hormuz on Monday as the United Arab Emirates said it had come under attack from Iran for the first time since a fragile ceasefire took hold in early April.

“US President Donald Trump has warned that Iran would be “blown off the face of the Earth” if it attacks United States ships as tensions around the Strait of Hormuz push the truce between the two countries to the brink”

Al Jazeera

The U.S. military said it fired on Iranian forces and sank six small boats targeting civilian ships as it moved to reopen the strait, and it said two American-flagged merchant ships successfully transited the strait on Monday as part of a new initiative.

Al Jazeera

Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command, told reporters that American forces had successfully opened a passage through the strait that is free of Iranian mines, and he said Iran launched multiple cruise missiles, drones and small boats at civilian ships under the U.S. military's protection.

Cooper said U.S. military helicopters sank six of the small boats and added that "each and every" threat had been defeated, while Trump had warned Sunday that Iranian efforts to halt passage through the strait "will, unfortunately, have to be dealt with forcefully."

The U.S.-led Joint Maritime Information Center advised ships Monday to cross the strait in Oman's waters and said it had set up an "enhanced security area."

The NPR report also described the UAE Defense Ministry saying its air defenses had engaged 15 missiles and four drones fired by Iran, and it said authorities in the eastern emirate of Fujairah reported one drone sparked a fire at a key oil facility, wounding three Indian nationals.

The British military reported two cargo vessels ablaze off the UAE, and the violence shook the ceasefire that had largely held since going into effect on April 8, according to the Boston Herald.

The U.S. effort to reopen Hormuz was framed as a humanitarian and security operation dubbed "Project Freedom," with Trump saying it was designed to aid stranded seafarers on hundreds of ships stuck in the Persian Gulf since the war began.

In the same reporting, the Boston Herald said Trump announced the plans to guide stranded ships out of the Persian Gulf and that he said some of the vessels were running out of food, while he said several countries had asked the U.S. for help in freeing up their ships.

Al-Jazeera Net

Al Jazeera described the U.S. military beginning implementation on Monday of the Trump plan to guide ships through Hormuz and break the Iranian blockade on the strategic shipping lanes, and it said Washington said it helped two U.S. merchant vessels through the strait while ship-tracking websites showed traffic through the waterway remained largely suspended.

Admiral Brad Cooper told Al Jazeera that vessels stranded in the area belong to 87 countries that are "innocent bystanders" in the conflict, and he said the U.S. had reached out to dozens of ships and shipping companies to encourage traffic flow through the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump’s threats to Iran were explicit in the Al Jazeera reporting, which said he warned that Iran would be "blown off the face of the Earth" if it attacks United States ships as tensions pushed the truce to the brink.

The NPR report said Tehran did not outright confirm or deny the attacks, but it quoted Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on X saying both the U.S. and the UAE "should be wary of being dragged back into quagmire."

The same NPR account said Iran’s military command warned that ships passing through the strait must coordinate with them, and it said Iran has said the new U.S. effort is a violation of the fragile ceasefire that has held for more than three weeks.

Alongside the U.S. attempt to open a lane, the UAE reported attacks and missile alerts, and Fujairah became a focal point in the accounts.

“Israeli army 'on high alert' for possible resumption of Iran war Prime Minister Netanyahu held series of security consultations to discuss developments, Israeli media says Zein Khalil 04 May 2026•Update: 04 May 2026 JERUSALEM The Israeli army said Monday evening it is on high alert for a possible resumption of war with Iran amid rising escalation between Tehran and Washington in the Strait of Hormuz”

Anadolu Ajansı

NPR said the UAE Defense Ministry said its air defenses had engaged 15 missiles and four drones fired by Iran, and it said authorities in the eastern emirate of Fujairah reported one drone sparked a fire at a key oil facility, wounding three Indian nationals.

The Boston Herald similarly said the UAE said it intercepted Iranian cruise missiles and blamed an Iranian drone strike for a large fire at its Fujairah port that hospitalized three people, and it repeated that the UAE Defense Ministry said its air defenses had engaged 15 missiles and four drones fired by Iran.

Al Jazeera added that the UAE Defence Ministry said the country’s forces engaged 12 ballistic missiles, three cruise missiles and four drones, and it said the media office in the emirate of Fujairah confirmed that an Iranian attack caused a fire in the Fujairah Petroleum Industry Zone and injured three people.

The Al Jazeera report also said the UAE and several Gulf countries condemned the Iranian attacks, quoting the UAE Foreign Ministry statement that "The UAE emphasised that it will not tolerate any threat to its security and sovereignty under any circumstances, and that it reserves its full and legitimate right to respond to these unprovoked attacks."

The NPR report said Oman authorities said a residential building near the strait was targeted, resulting in two foreign workers wounded, four vehicles damaged and nearby windows shattered, and it said the report carried by state-run media did not provide further details.

The Boston Herald also reported that the South Korean government said an explosion and fire had broken out aboard a South Korean-operated ship anchored in the strait off the UAE, and it said no injuries were reported.

The reporting also shows how Iran and the U.S. framed the confrontation as a test of the ceasefire and of future negotiations.

NPR said Iran has said the new U.S. effort is a violation of the fragile ceasefire that has held for more than three weeks, and it said Tehran did not outright confirm or deny the attacks while quoting Abbas Araghchi on X warning the U.S. and UAE to be wary of being dragged back into quagmire.

Boston Herald

The Boston Herald said Iran’s latest proposal for ending the war calls for the U.S. lifting sanctions, ending the blockade, withdrawing forces from the region and ceasing all hostilities, including Israel’s operations in Lebanon, and it said Iranian officials were reviewing the U.S. response while Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters that changing demands made diplomacy difficult.

Al Jazeera described Trump’s posture as escalating, saying he underscored Washington’s military power in an interview with Fox News and renewed his threats to Iran, including the line that "We have more weapons and ammunition at a much higher grade than we had before."

In the same Al Jazeera account, it said the U.S. military began implementing Project Freedom to guide ships through Hormuz and break the Iranian blockade, while ship-tracking websites showed traffic remained largely suspended.

Al Jazeera also said Iran’s official news agency IRNA cited a military source saying the "US claim of sinking a number of Iranian warships is false," and it quoted a senior Iranian official via Al Mayadeen saying the administration of the Hormuz Strait remains fully in Tehran’s hands, with the message: "Our message to the Iranian aggressors: Move forward and you will be targeted."

NPR reported that Iran’s military command warned that ships passing through the strait must coordinate with them, and it described the U.S.-led Joint Maritime Information Center advising ships to cross in Oman's waters in an "enhanced security area."

As the U.S. and Iran traded fire in the Persian Gulf, Israeli officials and markets also reacted in the sources.

Anadolu Ajansı reported that the Israeli army said Monday evening it is on high alert for a possible resumption of war with Iran amid rising escalation between Tehran and Washington in the Strait of Hormuz, quoting the army statement: "We are monitoring the situation and are on high alert amid the escalation in the Gulf," and adding that it confirmed "there is no change in the instructions of the Home Front Command."

NPR

The same Anadolu account said the public broadcaster KAN reported Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held "a series of security consultations" throughout Monday to discuss the situation in the Gulf.

The Boston Herald connected the escalation to broader regional dynamics, saying it prompted calls for the U.S. and ally Israel to renew attacks on Iran after a campaign that had previously struck thousands of targets, killed Iran’s supreme leader and other top officials, and shuttered the vital Strait of Hormuz, causing global energy prices to soar.

It also reported market moves, saying the price for a barrel of Brent crude leaped 5.8% to settle at $114.44 and that West Texas Intermediate advanced more than 4% and settled at $106.42 per barrel.

Al Jazeera added that the price of one gallon (3.8 litres) of gas or petrol in the US has risen from less than $3 before the war to more than $4.45 on Monday, fuelling inflation months ahead of the crucial midterm elections that will determine control of the US Congress.

NPR said the U.S. effort threatened to reignite full-scale fighting that erupted when the U.S. and Israel first attacked Iran on Feb. 28, prompting it to close the strait, and it said the effective closure of the strait, which runs between Iran and Oman, had caused a spike in worldwide fuel prices and rattled the global economy.