Pentagon says Iran ceasefire continues despite UAE attack
"We expected there would be some churn at the beginning," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said of the US Navy-led operation to open the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping.
WASHINGTON — The ceasefire between the US and Iran remains in effect, top Pentagon officials said Tuesday, despite an Iranian missile and drone attack targeting oil-producing facilities at the Emirati port of Fujairah overnight.
"The ceasefire is not over," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters at the Pentagon on Tuesday, adding that it is up to President Donald Trump to decide whether any attacks would abrogate the current truce.
Iran launched a drone and missile attack on the Emirati port of Fujairah overnight, causing a fire at an oil facility. The UAE said it intercepted 13 ballistic missiles in the barrage.
The US Navy also intercepted ballistic missiles and drones on Monday fired into the Strait of Hormuz as it kicked off an operation to guide commercial cargo ships through the strait, defying the IRGC’s threats.
On Monday, US Apache and Sea Hawk helicopters fired on and sank at least six Iranian fast boats that the Pentagon’s top commander in the Middle East, Adm. Brad Cooper, said had threatened commercial shipping.
Washington’s top-ranking general, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, downplayed the Iranian attacks as “harassing” fire that he said did not meet the threshold of overturning the ceasefire.
Hegseth said on Tuesday that Trump administration officials have been urging Iranian leaders “both overtly and quietly” to rein in the attacks and allow the US Navy’s operation to protect commercial shipping to proceed, emphasizing the mission was “temporary” and “separate and distinct” from the ongoing US blockade of Iranian ports.
“There are some actions the IRGC takes sometimes that are outside the bounds of what maybe Iranian negotiators would like,” Hegseth told reporters on Tuesday.“If Iran is not willing to follow through on its side of the bargain or make a deal, then the War Department is postured, locked, loaded and ready to go. Hope it doesn't have to go in that direction,” Hegseth said later during the briefing.
Less than two hours after Hegseth cautioned against further Iranian attacks, the Emirati Defense Ministry announced its air defenses were engaging ballistic missiles and drones incoming from Iran.
Iran has attacked commercial vessels nine times since the ceasefire began, seized two container ships and "attacked US forces more than 10 times," Caine told reporters at the Pentagon on Tuesday.
Earlier on Monday, the US Navy kicked off an operation to begin assisting commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, without resuming offensive strikes on Iran's territory amid the ceasefire. Pentagon officials characterized the operation as strictly defensive, but have said the military commanders have authority to target any Iranian threats in the strait.
Iran fired ballistic missiles, drones and scrambled fast boats toward commercial ships attempting to cross the strait on Monday. US AH-64 Apache helicopters and UH-60 Sea Hawk helicopters destroyed and sank at least six Iranian small boats that the Pentagon's top commander in the region, Adm. Brad Cooper, said were threatening commercial ships.
Following Iran’s attacks in the strait on Monday, Trump threatened that Iran would be "blown off the face of the Earth" if its military forces target US ships.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi appeared to respond later on Monday, posting on X, "Events in Hormuz make clear that there's no military solution to a political crisis." Araghchi further warned the US and the UAE against "being dragged back into quagmire by ill-wishers,” in an apparent reference to Israel.
This developing story has been updated since initial publication.
