‘Ceasefire still holds, but ready for combat’

US forces are ready to resume combat operations against Iran if ordered, Washington’s top military officer said yesterday, as the Pentagon threatened a “devastating” response to Iranian attacks on commercial shipping in the Hormuz strait.

The warnings came after Iran’s powerful chief negotiator said Tehran “had not even started yet” in the crucial trade route, after a spate of attacks by both sides on Monday threatened to reignite the Middle East war.

Iran fired missiles and drones at US forces and UAE territory, including an energy facility, while Washington said it hit six Iranian boats it said threatened commercial shipping, in the sharpest escalation since a nearly month-long truce.

US Central Command “and the rest of the joint force remain ready to resume major combat operations against Iran if ordered to do so,” General Dan Caine told reporters.

“No adversary should mistake our current restraint with a lack of resolve.”

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said the US was “not looking for a fight” in the strait but vowed that Iranian attacks would “face overwhelming and devastating American firepower.”

“Right now the ceasefire certainly holds, but we’re going to be watching very, very closely,” he added.

On Monday, Iran also targeted the UAE, a key US regional ally, with missiles and drones. Shortly after Hegseth spoke yesterday, the UAE defence ministry said its air defences were again engaging incoming missile and drone attacks from Iran.

The Gulf state’s foreign ministry said the strikes marked a serious escalation and posed a direct threat to national security, adding that the UAE reserved its “full and legitimate right” to respond.

Iran did not immediately comment on the latest accusations. Earlier, parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said breaches of the ceasefire by the US and its allies endangered shipping through the strait, which carries a large share of global oil and fertiliser supplies.

“We know well that the continuation of the current situation is unbearable for the United States, while we have not even begun yet,” he said in a social media post.

US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, dismissed Iran’s military capability and said Tehran “should wave the white flag of surrender”. Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said Iran privately wanted a deal despite its public rhetoric.

Several merchant vessels in the Gulf reported explosions or fires on Monday, while an oil port in the UAE, which hosts a major US military base, was hit by Iranian missiles.

Despite the clashes, Denmark’s freight giant Maersk yesterday said that one of its ships had successfully sailed through the Strait of Hormuz under US escort.

Iran’s military had threatened to attack any US forces that approached or entered the trade route.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said peace talks were progressing with Pakistan’s mediation and warned the US and UAE against being drawn into a “quagmire”. He was travelling to Beijing yesterday for talks with his Chinese counterpart, according to his ministry.

Iranian authorities also released a map showing an expanded maritime area they claimed was under Iranian control, extending beyond the strait to include parts of the UAE coastline, including Fujairah and Khorfakkan on the Gulf of Oman.

World leaders yesterday urged Tehran to return to diplomacy after renewed strikes in the region pushed the ceasefire to the brink.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called on Iran to “return to the negotiating table and stop holding the region and the world hostage”, echoing similar appeals from French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Saudi Arabia, a key US ally whose energy infrastructure has previously been hit by Iran, also called for de-escalation and urged “diplomatic efforts to reach a political solution”.