U.S. Confirms Iranian Attack on U.S. Navy Destroyers in Strait of Hormuz

Three U.S. Navy destroyers came under missile, drone and small-boat attack while transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, according to U.S. Central Command.

In a statement released Thursday morning, CENTCOM said Iranian forces launched “multiple missiles, drones and small boats” at USS Truxtun (DDG-103), USS Rafael Peralta (DDG-115), and USS Mason (DDG-87) as the warships transited the strategic waterway into the Gulf of Oman. The U.S. military said no American vessels were hit. 

“U.S. forces intercepted unprovoked Iranian attacks and responded with self-defense strikes,” CENTCOM said, adding that American forces targeted Iranian missile and drone launch sites, command-and-control facilities, and intelligence and surveillance nodes involved in the attack. 

President Donald Trump later described the confrontation in dramatically more aggressive terms, claiming Iranian attacking forces were “completely destroyed.”

“Missiles were shot at our Destroyers, and were easily knocked down,” Trump wrote on social media. “Likewise, drones came, and were incinerated while in the air.”

Trump also claimed numerous Iranian small boats “went to the bottom of the Sea, quickly and efficiently,” while warning Tehran that the United States would respond “a lot harder, and a lot more violently” if Iran does not quickly agree to a broader deal tied to its nuclear program.

“Our three Destroyers, with their wonderful Crews, will now rejoin our Naval Blockade, which is truly a ‘Wall of Steel,’” Trump wrote.

The incident represents a sharp escalation in the Hormuz crisis and one of the clearest publicly acknowledged naval clashes yet between U.S. and Iranian forces.

The clash comes only days after the Trump administration launched “Project Freedom,” a U.S.-backed effort to help guide stranded commercial vessels out of the Persian Gulf through an enhanced security corridor in Omani waters. After evacuating two U.S.-flagged ships via Hormuz, President Trump abruptly paused the operation less than 48 hours after its launch, but the broader U.S. naval blockade targeting Iranian ports remains in place. 

Iran had repeatedly warned this week that any U.S. military intervention in the Strait of Hormuz would be treated as a violation of the fragile ceasefire framework that has loosely held since April. Iranian officials and state media earlier claimed U.S. warships had been struck near the Strait, allegations repeatedly denied by CENTCOM. 

Thursday’s exchange appears to be the first time the U.S. military has formally confirmed that American destroyers were directly targeted during a transit operation.

The confrontation also underscores the widening gap between military messaging and political rhetoric surrounding the crisis.

While Trump described Iranian forces as “lunatics” and framed the clash as part of pressure on Tehran to sign a deal “FAST,” CENTCOM emphasized in its statement that it “does not seek escalation” and remains focused on protecting American forces and maintaining freedom of navigation through the international waterway. 

The Strait of Hormuz normally handles roughly one-fifth of global seaborne oil trade, but commercial traffic through the corridor remains largely paralyzed amid missile attacks, drone strikes, sea mine threats, and spiraling war-risk insurance costs.

Industry groups including BIMCO and the International Chamber of Shipping have repeatedly warned that commercial operators are unlikely to resume normal transits until security conditions stabilize and undersea threats are fully cleared.

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