Iran says 37,000 homes and businesses repaired after war damage

US Central Command said its forces will begin supporting “Project Freedom” on May 4 to help restore freedom of navigation for commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

The mission, directed by Donald Trump, will support merchant vessels seeking to transit the strategic waterway, which carries roughly a quarter of global seaborne oil trade as well as significant volumes of fuel and fertilizer products.

“Our support for this defensive mission is essential to regional security and the global economy as we also maintain the naval blockade,” said Brad Cooper.

CENTCOM said the effort will include guided-missile destroyers, more than 100 land- and sea-based aircraft, multi-domain unmanned systems and around 15,000 service members.

US officials say Donald Trump did not announce a naval escort mission in the Strait of Hormuz, according to a Wall Street Journal.

The officials described “Project Freedom”—earlier referred to as the Maritime Freedom Construct—as a coordination cell designed to guide US-flagged and other vessels through safe navigation lanes.

The initiative would identify routes free of threats such as mines, rather than involve direct military escort of ships through the waterway.

The clarification follows Trump’s earlier announcement, which had suggested a more active US role in securing passage through the strategic strait.

An Iranian lawmaker warned that any US move to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz would be treated as a violation of the ceasefire, reacting to Donald Trump’s announced plan.

Ebrahim Azizi, a member of parliament’s national security commission, said “any intervention by the Americans in the new maritime order of the Strait of Hormuz will be considered a breach of the ceasefire.”

“The Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf are not a place for rhetoric,” he added in a post on X.

An Iranian academic with close ties to the leadership warned that no vessels would be allowed to exit the Persian Gulf without authorization from Iran’s armed forces, following Donald Trump’s announcement of a US plan to escort ships out of the Strait of Hormuz.

Mohammad Marandi said ships would require Iranian approval to leave the region, adding: “Only a fool would attempt to ignore an Iranian warning.”

His remarks point to a direct clash in messaging over control of shipping routes, as Washington moves to guide vessels through the strategic waterway while Tehran signals it intends to assert authority over passage.

Friedrich Merz said Germany remains closely aligned with the United States and shares Washington’s core objective that Iran must not obtain nuclear weapons.

“The United States is and will remain Germany’s most important partner in the North Atlantic Alliance,” Merz said in a post on X, adding: “We share a common goal: Iran must not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons.”

His remarks come amid visible strain in transatlantic relations over the war and diplomacy with Iran, even as both sides continue to emphasize the importance of coordination within NATO.