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Two US Navy destroyers and several commercial vessels successfully passed through the Strait of Hormuz Monday despite a coordinated barrage of attacks by Iran.

Getting into it: According to Admiral Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command, the first day of Trump’s “Project Freedom” operation kicked off Monday with US Navy destroyers USS Truxtun and USS Mason transiting the strait under Iranian fire, supported by Apache helicopters and other aircraft. Iran launched cruise missiles, drones, and at least six fast boats at the destroyers and at two US-flagged commercial vessels following them. None of the projectiles hit any US ships, and US forces destroyed all six Iranian small boats.

Trump later put the number of destroyed boats at seven on Truth Social. “We’ve shot down seven small Boats or, as they like to call them, ‘fast’ Boats. It’s all they have left.”

The Alliance Fairfax, a US-flagged vehicle carrier operated by Maersk subsidiary Farrell Lines, became one of the first commercial vessels to successfully exit the Gulf under US military escort, with Maersk confirming the transit was completed without incident and all crew were safe.

Asked if Monday’s fighting had killed the ceasefire, Cooper sidestepped the question. “I wouldn’t go into details of the whether the ceasefire is over or not. I think the key thing is for us is we’re merely there as a defensive force and enforce, to give a very thick layer of defense to commercial shipping to allow them to proceed out of the Arabian Gulf.”

The attacks quickly spread well beyond the strait itself, with the United Arab Emirates accusing Iran of launching 15 ballistic missiles, three cruise missiles, and four drones at its territory Monday, with UAE air defenses engaging the projectiles and one Iranian drone hitting an oil tanker affiliated with state oil company ADNOC (the tanker was empty at the time). Three Indian nationals were also injured and a fire broke out at a major oil refinery in Fujairah.

In addition, a South Korean cargo vessel called the HMM Namu, sailing under a Panama flag with a crew of 24 (six South Koreans, 18 from various other countries), reported an explosion and fire in its engine room while anchored just off the UAE coastline inside the strait. Trump used the South Korean incident to publicly pressure Seoul into joining Project Freedom. “Perhaps it’s time for South Korea to come and join the mission!” Seoul’s defense ministry responded Tuesday by saying it would “carefully review our position,” stopping short of any commitment.

Despite all of this, Iran has been pushing back against the US version of events. An unnamed Iranian military commander told state broadcaster IRIB on Tuesday that the US attacks didn’t hit any IRGC vessels but instead destroyed two small boats carrying civilian passengers from Khasab on the coast of Oman to the Iranian coast, killing five people. The IRGC also denied losing any boats and said the US claims of intercepted attacks were “baseless and completely false.”