Alex GriffingMay 4th, 2026, 3:53 pm

CNN national security correspondent Natasha Bertrand reported Monday afternoon about the latest acknowledgement from U.S. Central Command Chief, Admiral Bradley Cooper, that U.S. military and commercial vessels were attacked earlier in the day by Iran.

“Yeah, Boris, our U.S. Central Command Chief, Admiral Bradley Cooper, held a call with reporters earlier today. He outlined how the U.S. military is going about trying to guide these commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz essentially via a huge U.S. military presence that involves guided missile destroyers, over 100 land and sea-based aircraft, unmanned platforms—things like Reaper drones—and 15,000 service members who are now stationed there to respond essentially if Iran does attack any of these ships trying to pass through the strait,” Bertrand told anchor Boris Sanchez, adding:

And that is exactly what happened this morning. According to Admiral Cooper, the Iranians began launching drones, cruise missiles, and small boats at some of these ships, including U.S. Navy ships. And the U.S. military then responded by blowing up about six of these small Iranian boats using Apache and Seahawk helicopters. Now, it’s important to note here that Admiral Cooper did not say whether or not this means that the ceasefire is over, given that the Iranians and the Americans are now trading shots essentially in that strait.

He would only say that the U.S. is going to continue to act defensively to try to protect these ships, as well as, of course, its own assets. And one other thing is that he really emphasized that there are no escorts going on right now of these commercial vessels in this area by the U.S. military. Instead, they say that this kind of overarching defensive package that they have built up in that area is creating deterrence.

Now, the Iranians, they might have a different perception of that because, of course, they continue to try to take shots at these ships in the waterway. But the U.S. military is saying, “Look, it’s better for us to have this big overall presence here rather than escort each ship one by one through the strait, which could actually leave them more vulnerable in the end for us.”

Watch the clip above via CNN.

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