WASHINGTON, May 5 - U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday that the operation launched by the United States to shield commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz is a temporary, defensive measure and that Washington does not intend to provoke a broader conflict.
During a briefing, Hegseth characterized the mission as limited in both purpose and duration. He set out the operations central objective as protectinginnocent commercial shipping from Iranian aggression while avoiding actions that would require U.S. forces to enter Iranian territorial waters or airspace.
"Project Freedom is defensive in nature, focused in scope and temporary in duration, with one mission, protecting innocent commercial shipping from Iranian aggression. American forces wont need to enter Iranian waters or airspace. Its not necessary. Were not looking for a fight."
President Donald Trump authorized the deployment on Monday and named the initiative Project Freedom. The announcement followed a period in which Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz after what the article describes as the U.S. and Israel starting the conflict on February 28.
The regions fragile truce showed signs of strain on Tuesday, according to the reporting, after U.S. and Iranian forces exchanged fire in the Gulf while contesting control of the Strait of Hormuz. The incident underscored the tensions that Project Freedom is intended to address.
Hegseths comments framed the U.S. deployment as narrowly tailored and explicitly defensive, with an emphasis on minimizing direct confrontation. Beyond that characterization, the statements reiterated that the operation aims to protect commercial maritime traffic without conducting operations inside Iranian sovereign waters or airspace.
The situation as described in the reporting highlights continuing volatility around a strategically important maritime route and the U.S. administrations decision to apply a maritime protection measure rather than a broader military escalation.
Summary
The Pentagon describes Project Freedom as a temporary, defensive operation focused on protecting commercial ships from Iranian aggression in the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. leadership maintains it will avoid entering Iranian waters or airspace and is not seeking a wider conflict. The move follows an effective closure of the strait attributed to Iran after the U.S. and Israel started the conflict on February 28 and comes amid renewed exchanges of fire in the Gulf.