Iranian state media claim U.S. military's report of 2 ships transiting Strait of Hormuz "entirely false"

Iran's state-run news outlets claim the U.S. military lied about helping two commercial vessels to safely transit the Strait of Hormuz on Monday under the newly launched Project Freedom maritime operation.

"No commercial vessels or oil tankers have passed through the Strait of Hormuz in recent hours, and the claims made by U.S. officials are baseless and entirely false," IRIB state TV said in a statement it attributed to the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The statement repeated an earlier warning from Iranian officials that any ships attempting to transit the strait "will face serious risks, and violating vessels will be stopped with force."

Hours after President Trump announced Project Freedom, which he said would see the U.S. military "guide" tankers and other commercial vessels long stuck in the Persian Gulf out through the Strait of Hormuz, Central Command said two ships had safely transited the waterway on Monday, along with an unspecified number of U.S. Navy destroyers.

CENTCOM did not name the commercial vessels but said they were U.S.-flagged.

Iran attacked at least one UAE-flagged tanker in the strait on Monday, targeting it with drones, and an explosion was reported on a South Korean vessel, but the cause remained unclear.