Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Tuesday the U.S.-Iran ceasefire "certainly holds" for now. He called Project Freedom, an effort to guide commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz — which drew Iranian attacks on Monday — a totally separate and "temporary" operation.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday that the U.S. mission to reopen the Strait of Hormuz was a temporary one.

The US played down the prospect of a return to active war with Iran after a day of clashes involving ships in the Strait of Hormuz and missile strikes against the United Arab Emirates, while Iran’s president said American demands are “impossible.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the US effort to guide vessels out of the Strait of Hormuz is temporary, and “separate and distinct” from ongoing military operations in the region. Follow for live updates.

The U.S. and Iran both claimed to have control over the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday after the U.S. launched a naval effort to escort vessels through the vital shipping route. Some 1,600 ships are trapped in or near the waterway,

A vessel in the Strait of Hormuz near Bandar Abbas, Iran, May 4, 2026. Credit: Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)

Iran's foreign minister warned the U.S. should be wary of being dragged into a "quagmire" after tensions flared in the Strait of Hormuz.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, in Beijing on Wednesday, the official Xinhua news agency reported, without providing further details. It was the first time Araghchi has traveled to China since the start of the Iran war.