WASHINGTON, May 5 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. military operation to guide commercial ships out of the Strait of Hormuz, named Project Freedom, is temporary and separate from Epic Fury, the large-scale military operation against Iran launched on Feb. 28, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday.
"To be clear, this operation is separate and distinct from Operation Epic Fury," Hegseth told a press conference at the Pentagon on Tuesday morning.
"Project Freedom is defensive in nature, focused in scope and temporary in duration," he added. The operation was launched on Monday.
Hegseth insisted the U.S.-Iran ceasefire remains in place, though the two sides exchanged fire in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday.
"No, the ceasefire is not over," said the Pentagon chief. "And we expected there would be some churn at the beginning, which happened."
The U.S. military is "locked, loaded and ready to go" if necessary, he added.
Meanwhile, Hegseth reiterated that the White House does not need to seek congressional approval to continue the war with Iran since the ceasefire with Iran is not over.
Iran has attacked U.S. forces more than 10 times since the ceasefire began earlier last month, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said at the press conference.
However, it is "below the threshold" for the U.S. military to restart combat operations, said Caine.
"Since the ceasefire was announced, Iran has fired at commercial vessels nine times and seized two container ships, and they've attacked U.S. forces more than 10 times, all below the threshold of restarting major combat operations at this point," the general said.
"The threshold of restarting is a political decision above my pay grade. What I'll say is it's low harassing fire right now. It feels like Iran is grasping at straws," Caine said.
Only two vessels, both U.S.-flagged merchant ships, are known to have transited the Strait of Hormuz so far, according to the Pentagon. CBS News reported Monday night that two U.S. Navy destroyers had passed through the strait after navigating an Iranian barrage. ■