U.S. forces have shot down multiple Iranian missiles and drones and destroyed six small boats, a top U.S. admiral said Monday.
The hostilities occurred as American forces seek to facilitate the transit of commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz in an effort dubbed "Project Freedom" that President Donald Trump announced on Sunday.
U.S. Apache and Seahawk helicopters hit "six Iranian small boats threatening commercial shipping," Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), told journalists.
U.S. forces also "effectively engaged" all "missiles and drones that were fired at both us and the commercial ships," Cooper said.
Some cruise missiles were launched at U.S. Navy ships but most of them as well as multiple drones targeted commercial vessels, he said.
"We defended both ourselves and, consistent with our commitment, we defended all the commercial ships," Cooper said.
In a post on his Truth Social Platform, Trump put the number of Iranian boats struck at seven and said "there has been, at this moment, no damage going through the Strait" aside from a South Korean ship that was hit, about which he provided no further details.
Iranian state television meanwhile quoted a senior military official from the country as saying: "The U.S. claim that it sank a number of Iranian war boats is false."
Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates on Monday said an Iranian drone sparked a fire at an oil facility in Fujairah, a key pipeline hub used to bypass the Strait of Hormuz.
Shortly after the report, the British military said a cargo ship off the coast of the Emirates was ablaze. The UAE issued its first three missile alerts on Monday since the shaky ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. took hold almost four weeks ago.
Iran handed over its latest proposal for negotiations with the U.S. to mediators in Pakistan, Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported Friday.
Trump subsequently said he's "not satisfied" with it, but did not elaborate on the proposal's apparent shortcomings.
The shaky ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran has lasted for three weeks.
