US Launches Major Naval Mission to Reopen Strait of Hormuz

Speaking at the White House on Monday, Rubio said President Donald Trump had authorised "Project Freedom" to guide trapped civilian ships to safety after weeks of escalating tensions in the Persian Gulf.

Rubio said nearly 23,000 civilians from 87 countries remained stranded aboard commercial vessels because of what he described as an Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow but strategically vital waterway through which roughly a quarter of global oil trade passes.

"These innocent sailors and commercial crew members have been stranded out at sea," Rubio said. "These ships - you don't leave a ship out there for this long. You start running out of food, you start running out of potable water, essential supplies."

He accused Iran of carrying out "piracy" by laying mines in international waters and targeting commercial vessels.

"This is an international waterway," Rubio said. "No country can control them. There is no international law that allows you to say, I'm going to put mines in an international body of water, and I'm going to blow up ships that don't listen to us and try to go through."

Rubio repeatedly insisted the US operation was defensive in nature.

"This is not an offensive operation, this is a defensive operation," he said. "There's no shooting unless we're shot at first."

According to Rubio, US naval and air assets are now creating what he described as a "protective bubble" for commercial shipping. He said two US-flagged merchant vessels had already safely crossed the Strait under the first phase of the operation.

The forces involved include guided missile destroyers, more than 100 aircraft, unmanned systems and around 15,000 US military personnel, Rubio said.

He added that US forces had already destroyed seven Iranian fast boats that approached ships despite warnings.

"We're going to continue to systematically clear this passageway through the straits to restore freedom of navigation," Rubio said.

The secretary of state said the operation was aimed at preventing Iran from normalising control over one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

"We cannot live in a world where a rogue state like this Iranian regime is allowed to claim, as a new normal, control over an international shipping lane," Rubio said.

He said Washington was also pushing for international diplomatic action at the United Nations.

"We're going to the UN," Rubio said. "All we're asking them to do is to condemn it, to call on Iran to stop blowing ships, to remove these mines, and to allow humanitarian relief to come through."

Rubio acknowledged that several countries had privately approached Washington seeking help but said the United States remained the only country capable of projecting sufficient military power into the region quickly.

"This is a favour to the world," he said. "We're the only ones that can."

The Trump administration has linked the maritime crisis directly to its broader confrontation with Iran over its nuclear programme and regional influence.

Rubio argued that allowing Iran to obtain nuclear weapons would make the situation far more dangerous.

"A nuclear armed Iran could do whatever the hell they want with the Straits," he said.

The Strait of Hormuz remains one of the world's most strategically sensitive maritime chokepoints, connecting the Persian Gulf to global shipping routes. Major Asian economies, including India, China, Japan and South Korea, depend heavily on energy supplies moving through the narrow waterway.

- IANS