Tensions in the Strait of Hormuz escalated Monday after US President Donald Trump announced Washington was beginning "Project Freedom," to help "guide" ships stranded by Iran's closure of the crucial waterway. Iran said the US had "disregarded" its warning shots and that it had struck a US frigate with 2 missiles. Washington outright denied this, saying it had managed to transit the Strait, which again Tehran rebuked, triggering a war of words in which both sides traded claims of attacks.