{"id":12536,"date":"2026-05-05T11:12:54","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T11:12:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/05\/05\/u-s-and-iran-trade-fire-and-threats-as-trumps-bid-to-open-hormuz-rattles-truce-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T11:12:54","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T11:12:54","slug":"u-s-and-iran-trade-fire-and-threats-as-trumps-bid-to-open-hormuz-rattles-truce-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/05\/05\/u-s-and-iran-trade-fire-and-threats-as-trumps-bid-to-open-hormuz-rattles-truce-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. and Iran trade fire and threats as Trump’s bid to open Hormuz rattles truce – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The ceasefire in the Middle East<\/a> was in peril Tuesday after the United States and Iran traded fire and threats over President Donald Trump’s new mission to force open the Strait of Hormuz<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Trump’s \u201cProject Freedom\u201d<\/a> aims to use the U.S. military to break Tehran\u2019s chokehold on the critical waterway, which has throttled international shipping and sent energy prices soaring<\/a>. <\/p>\n

But Iran’s aggressive effort to retain its grip on the strait saw it attack U.S. ships, hit a neighboring Gulf state for the first time in weeks and come under American fire itself.<\/p>\n

The U.S. military said Tehran’s forces attacked U.S. Navy and commercial ships with cruise missiles, and launched drones and small boats at the vessels under U.S. escort, but that no American ships were struck. Trump said the U.S. destroyed eight Iranian boats. <\/p>\n

Two U.S.-flagged merchant vessels made it through the strait, the U.S. military said, with shipping giant MAERSK confirming Tuesday that one of its vehicle carriers was escorted out “under U.S. military protection.”<\/p>\n

Iran denied there had been any successful crossings of commercial vessels or oil tankers, and said none of its navy ships suffered damage.<\/p>\n

Top officials sounded defiant Tuesday. <\/p>\n

While the situation in the strait was clearly \u201cunbearable\u201d for America, Iran has \u201cnot even begun yet,\u201d Parliamentary Speaker and lead negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a post on X.<\/p>\n

Events in the strait make clear that there is \u201cno military solution to a political crisis,\u201d Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also said in a post on X late Monday. He added \u201cProject Freedom is Project Deadlock.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Vessels<\/picture>
Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz near Bandar Abbas, Iran, on Monday.<\/span>Amirhosein Khorgooi \/ WANA via Reuters<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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The escalating tensions raised questions about whether the ceasefire that began on April 8 was at risk or effectively over. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I can\u2019t tell you that,\u201d Trump responded when asked that question late Monday in an interview on the \u201cThe Hugh Hewitt Show.\u201d <\/p>\n

He warned that Iranian forces would be \u201cblown off the face of the Earth\u201d if they attack American ships, in a separate interview with Fox News.<\/p>\n

The hostilities in the strait also involved a South Korean-operated ship, which suffered damage after an explosion and fire on Monday. <\/p>\n

Trump called on South Korea \u201cto join the mission\u201d in a TruthSocial post, as he blamed Iran for taking \u201csome shots\u201d at the ship.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile the United Arab Emirates, a key U.S. ally in the Gulf, said it engaged 12 ballistic missiles, 3 cruise missiles and 4 drones fired from Iran. The attack sparked a fire at an oil facility and injured three Indian nationals, officials said, drawing widespread condemnation. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Iran did not explicitly confirm or deny the attack, but said Tehran had no plan to target its neighbor. Araghchi, the foreign minister, warned both the U.S. and U.A.E. against “being dragged back into quagmire.”<\/p>\n

Pakistan, a key mediator in stalled peace talks, urged the two sides to keep their cool. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s \u201cabsolutely essential that the ceasefire be upheld and respected, to allow necessary diplomatic space for dialogue leading to enduring peace and stability in the region,\u201d Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a post on X.<\/p>\n

The markets responded to the latest dramatic events with oil prices retreating but remaining well above $100 a barrel, while average gas prices in the U.S. climbed slightly to $4.48 a gallon. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

May 5, 2026, 6:23 AM EDT\u00a0\/\u00a0Updated\u00a0May 5, 2026, 6:31 AM EDT The ceasefire in the Middle East was in peril Tuesday after the United States and Iran traded fire and threats over President Donald Trump’s new mission to force open the Strait of Hormuz. Trump’s \u201cProject Freedom\u201d aims to use the U.S. military to break […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12537,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}