Operation Epic Fury is over. Secretary of State Marco Rubio made the declaration at a White House briefing on 5 May 2026, 67 days after the US-Israeli offensive against Iran began. The strait narrows at grid reference 40RDQ2530438663 (26.5667N, 56.2500E) remains the operational flashpoint as the United States attempts to shift from a war footing to a contested maritime escort mission. “The operation is over. Epic Fury, as the president notified Congress. We’re done with that stage of it,” Rubio told reporters. “We achieved the objectives of that operation.”

The declaration followed a letter President Trump sent to congressional leaders on 1 May, formally stating that hostilities against Iran had been “terminated.” The notification was timed to the 60-day deadline imposed by the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which requires the president to seek legislative authorisation for a military conflict that extends beyond that threshold. By framing the ceasefire that has been in place since 8 April as a termination of hostilities, the administration argued the clock had effectively stopped, and no congressional vote was required.

In place of Epic Fury, the United States has launched Operation Project Freedom. Announced by Trump on 4 May, the mission deploys 15,000 US service personnel, over 100 land- and sea-based aircraft, Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, AH-64 Apache helicopters, MH-60 Seahawk platforms, and multi-domain unmanned systems. US Central Command described the overall effort as “inherently a defensive operation,” with the stated goal of establishing what Rubio called a “protective bubble” for commercial vessels attempting to transit the strait. “This is not an offensive operation,” Rubio said. “There’s no shooting unless we’re shot at first.”

The first results came quickly. US Central Command confirmed on 4 May that two US-flagged merchant vessels had successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz. Danish shipping company Maersk confirmed that one of those ships was the Alliance Fairfax, operated by Farrell Lines, a Maersk subsidiary. The company stated the vessel completed the journey without incident and with all crew members safe. Before the war, approximately 130 ships passed through the strait daily. That figure has effectively collapsed for Western-aligned commercial traffic since late February 2026.

CENTCOM clarified that Project Freedom does not provide individual vessel escort. Instead, US forces have mapped a narrow corridor through the strait assessed to be relatively clear of mines and are maintaining overhead and maritime coverage along that route. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth described the mission as “separate and distinct” from the ongoing military operation, and “temporary in duration, with one mission: protecting innocent commercial shipping from Iranian aggression.” Rubio framed it as the “first step” toward fully reopening the waterway and ending what he called Iran’s “economic arson.”

The ceasefire Trump declared on 8 April has been extended but has not produced any negotiated agreement. Iran has not committed to ending its nuclear enrichment programme, has not recognised US demands, and continues to assert control over the strait. Rubio acknowledged that a US delegation led by Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff was still attempting to determine what Iran would negotiate on. “We don’t have to have the actual agreement written out,” he said, “but we have to have a diplomatic solution that is very clear about the topics.” The diplomatic channel remains open but stalled.

Iranian commanders responded to the launch of Project Freedom with direct warnings. The commander of the IRGC-linked Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters stated that any foreign military force approaching or entering the Strait of Hormuz would be attacked. Ebrahim Azizi, head of Iran’s parliamentary National Security Commission, declared Project Freedom a ceasefire violation. On 4 May, the day the operation launched, US and Iranian forces exchanged fire in the waterway. Reports from CBS, cited by Fox News, described two US destroyers, the USS Truxtun and USS Mason, coming under a barrage of Iranian small boats, missiles, and drones, backed by F-16 fighters and Apache helicopters. Neither vessel was struck. CENTCOM did not publicly confirm all elements of the engagement at time of publication.

Trump declined to define precisely what would constitute a ceasefire violation, telling reporters at the White House: “You’ll find out.” He has not ruled out resuming a bombing campaign if negotiations collapse or Iran breaks the truce. The administration’s position is that the absence of formal air and missile exchanges since 7 April constitutes a termination of hostilities for War Powers Act purposes, an interpretation rejected by multiple senators and independent legal scholars. For more background on the failed Islamabad negotiations that preceded this phase, see our earlier report on the collapse of the US-Iran talks.

Two successful transits represent a real first step, but the gap between two ships and 130 daily is enormous, and analysts who spoke to Breaking Defense were cautious about the near-term prospects. Major shipping companies remain reluctant to send vessels through a 21-mile corridor within range of Iranian missiles, drones, and sea mines. Passage insurance at commercial rates is effectively unavailable. Analysts noted that even a single strike on a transiting vessel would set the operation back sharply: a mine or drone hit can take a ship offline for months, and the liability exposure for shipowners and underwriters remains prohibitive regardless of US military coverage overhead.

The mine threat is a particularly complex problem. Reports cited in open-source analysis suggested Iran may have lost track of some of the mines planted in the strait during the early weeks of the conflict. If accurate, this would mean that even a fully cooperative Iran could not guarantee a clear passage through its own mined corridor. The US Navy bombed hardened Iranian anti-ship missile sites along the strait during the offensive phase and sank a reported 158 Iranian naval vessels. The IRGC’s surface fleet has been substantially degraded. But mines do not require a crew or command structure to remain dangerous, and the strait is narrow enough that a small number of unlocated devices poses a serious risk to any vessel attempting transit without sweeping.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi dismissed the new operation entirely on social media, calling it “Project Deadlock” and arguing that “there is no military solution to a political crisis.” He added that talks were making progress through Pakistani mediation and that the US “should be wary of being dragged back into quagmire.” The signal is characteristically ambiguous: Tehran wants to appear open to negotiation while retaining effective economic leverage over the strait that it has held since the conflict began.

Rubio’s Epic Fury declaration also carries a constitutional dimension. The secretary told reporters that the administration does not regard the 1973 War Powers Resolution as constitutional, while simultaneously stating that it complies “with elements of it for purposes of maintaining good relations with Congress.” It is a remarkable public position: to formally reject a law’s legitimacy while selectively applying it to avoid the political cost of a direct confrontation with the legislature. Rubio, a former US senator who voted on such matters, delivered that position without apparent hesitation.

Senate Democrats pushed back hard. Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia rejected the ceasefire-pauses-the-clock interpretation outright. Senator Adam Schiff argued that ceasing some uses of force while continuing others does not stop the legal countdown, noting that US forces remain actively engaged in and around the strait. Republican support for a formal war authorisation vote has not materialised. Several GOP members agreed with Hegseth that the ceasefire negated the deadline; others were simply unwilling to take a war-vote before midterm elections. The net effect is that the United States is conducting active military operations in the Persian Gulf without a formal congressional mandate, a status quo without precedent for a conflict of this scale.