AILSA CHANG, HOST:
There is a shift in the U.S. strategy in the war with Iran, and U.S. officials are eager to talk about it. It's dubbed Project Freedom. The new strategy is an effort to open up the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping. The strait has effectively been shut down by Iran for about two months now. And today, Pentagon officials said that this effort by the U.S. is temporary and that despite some attacks on U.S. vessels, the ceasefire with Iran is still holding. For more, we're joined now by NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman. Hi, Tom.
TOM BOWMAN, BYLINE: Hey, Ailsa.
CHANG: OK. So we've already been hearing a lot from U.S. officials on this latest effort to basically end this whole stalemate with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz. What do we know at this point?
BOWMAN: Well, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Caine held a briefing today, and Hegseth said the U.S. military has basically cleared a lane in the Strait of Hormuz so cargo ships can start moving. And there are U.S. battleships, warplanes, helicopters, drones offering protection, which the secretary called a, quote, "red, white and blue dome." But Iran is still shooting drones and missiles. It hit a South Korean ship and also fired on U.S. warships without effect. The Pentagon says it knocked out Iranian missiles and drones.
And you're right, the U.S. is saying the ceasefire is holding, despite these attacks that General Caine said do not meet the threshold of violating the ceasefire and returning to, of course, major combat operations. And he said attacks above that threshold would be determined by someone above his pay grade. Iran, meanwhile, Ailsa, said it still controls the strait and said any ships that don't pass through its approved routes will face a, quote, "decisive response."
CHANG: OK. I'm still a little confused here. Iran is still shooting. What about the ships that are stuck inside the Gulf? Like, are they even moving at this point?
BOWMAN: You know, not at this point - so far, just two U.S. flag ships have crossed through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday. I reached out to a couple of industry groups, and they had the same response. It's just too dangerous, they believe. And until they are confident Iran will not shoot at the ships or if there's a solid peace agreement with the U.S., they doubt you'll see many, or any, cargo ships moving. There were some 1,500 ships stuck in the Persian Gulf and - get this - 1,000 of them are large ocean-going ships, such as oil tankers.
CHANG: Well, listening to these officials talk, it sounds like the Pentagon is just hoping that these ships will start moving through the Strait of Hormuz and that other countries will jump in and somehow help protect those cargo ships. Am I understanding this right?
BOWMAN: Yeah. That's the sense I got listening to the briefing. I wouldn't say it was a plea, but it was clearly a hope that the cargo vessels would start to sail through the strait and allies would join this dome of protection. Let's listen to both Secretary Hegseth and General Caine.
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PETE HEGSETH: This is a temporary mission for us. As I've said before, the world needs this waterway a lot more than we do. We're stabilizing the situation so commerce can flow again, but we expect the world to step up. At the appropriate time and soon, we will hand responsibility back to you.
DAN CAINE: Commercial vessels that transit through the area will see hear and, frankly, feel U.S. combat power around them on the sea, in the skies and on the radio. And as of this morning, as was mentioned prior, two U.S. flag merchant vessels have transited, and we anticipate more to transit over the coming days.
BOWMAN: Now European allies led by the British and French have talked about getting involved to keep the Strait of Hormuz open but only after a permanent ceasefire, so no sense they'll join anytime soon. And as I just pointed out from talking to shipping industry officials, they don't anticipate any cargo vessels moving in the coming days.
CHANG: But wait, Tom, wasn't it only a few weeks ago when President Trump was saying Iran blocking the Strait of Hormuz was not a problem for the U.S. alone to solve and that it was up to allies to take back control, right?
BOWMAN: Right. But as we all know, with gas prices going up, diesel and fertilizer prices going up, it's definitely a problem for the U.S. as well. And there's no sense that this red, white and blue dome will relieve this economic headache anytime soon.
CHANG: That is NPR's Tom Bowman. Thank you, Tom.
BOWMAN: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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