Iran's foreign minister warned the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates against further military action, arguing that force will only deepen the Middle East crisis as tensions spike in the Strait of Hormuz.
Abbas Araghchi said in remarks reported on Monday that recent clashes in the strategic waterway show "there's no military solution to a political crisis," pointing to U.S. efforts to escort commercial shipping through the strait.
He said negotiations are underway with mediation led by Pakistan, cautioning that Washington risks being pulled back into a "quagmire" by outside actors, and added that the UAE should also avoid escalation.
Araghchi also criticized President Donald Trump's maritime security mission — dubbed "Project Freedom" — calling it "Project Deadlock" as confrontations intensify around the escort operations.
The warning followed an exchange of fire in the strait Monday, with Iranian forces targeting U.S. warships and commercial vessels, according to U.S. Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper, who said American forces responded by destroying six small Iranian boats.
U.S. Central Command earlier confirmed that two American cargo ships transited the Strait of Hormuz under the protection of Navy guided-missile destroyers operating in the Persian Gulf.
The United Arab Emirates Defense Ministry said Iranian forces also fired four cruise missiles into its airspace Monday, marking the first such reported attack since a U.S.-Iran ceasefire took effect last month.
Trump, speaking to Fox News, said Iranian officials have become "much more malleable" in talks brokered by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Asim Munir.
Still, Trump warned Iran would be "blown off the face of the Earth" if it targets U.S. forces escorting commercial vessels, underscoring the stakes surrounding the administration's Project Freedom operation, launched to safeguard maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz after repeated threats to global energy flows.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.