Admiral Cooper: Good afternoon, everybody. Admiral Brad Cooper here, commander of U.S. Central Command. Thanks for joining me to discuss the U.S. military support to Project Freedom. But let me first start by providing a general frame. Today, the U.S. military is taking two separate actions in two different bodies of water. First, as many of you have already covered, we're enforcing the blockade in the Gulf of Oman. There is no commerce going into and out of Iran and we will be sustaining this effort. Second, we've now opened a passage through the Strait of Hormuz to allow for the free flow of commerce to proceed. As the President announced yesterday, U.S. forces in the Middle East are supporting efforts to restore freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz for commercial shipping.

The United States has assumed the risk for the international community to open the Strait. In fact, just hours ago, the U.S. set the example for others to follow by successfully supporting the transit of two U.S.-flagged merchant vessels through the Strait. These ships are now safely headed on their journey, having conducted the journey through the Strait uneventfully. Overall, this is inherently a defensive operation. Very important point. It's a defensive operation. We are employing U.S. ballistic-missile defense capable destroyers, over 100 land and sea-based aircraft, multi-domain unmanned platforms, meaning under the sea, on the sea and from the air … and 15,000 service members to extend this defensive umbrella across the Strait of Hormuz to protect our forces, and also as a commitment to defend commercial shipping.

To give some perspective of the U.S. commitment, vessels currently in the Arabian Gulf represent 87 countries from around the world, and as the President mentioned, they are merely neutral and innocent bystanders. Over the last 12 hours, we've reached out to dozens of ships and shipping companies to encourage traffic flow through the Strait, consistent with the President's intent to help guide ships safely through the narrow trade corridor. This news has been quite enthusiastically received, and we're already beginning to see movement. The President has also said that if the process is interfered with, we will react forcefully. And over the last 12 hours, Iran has interfered. The IRGC has launched multiple cruise missiles, drones and small boats at ships that we are protecting. We have defeated each and every one of those threats through the clinical application of defensive munitions.

The distinction, from my perspective, is crystal clear. U.S. forces are helping the international community in restoring the flow of global commerce, while the IRGC, on the other hand, is doing everything it can to terrorize and threaten commercial shipping. My operational assessment overall is that the U.S. military has the clear advantage. We have an enormous amount of capability and firepower concentrated in and around the Strait, including AH-64 Apache and MH-60 Seahawk helicopters used just this morning to eliminate six Iranian small boats threatening commercial shipping. So, we're backing up commitment with action. We also have A-10s, F-15s, F-16s, F-18s, F-35s, EA-18 Growlers, RC-135s, KC-46s and KC-135 fixed-wing aircraft and numerous U.S. warships, including destroyers, two carrier strike groups, an amphibious readiness group, and the Marine Expeditionary Unit. Iranian forces are strongly advised to remain well clear of U.S. assets and personnel operating in international waters, in and near the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. commanders who are on the scene have all the authorities necessary to defend their units and to defend commercial shipping, as we saw and demonstrated earlier today.

And finally, a couple of remarks, that just this morning I returned from visiting our warfighters, deployed to the region. I had the opportunity to visit with Sailors and Marines aboard the amphibious assault ship TRIPOLI and the guided missile destroyer USS MILIUS, and expressed my thanks for their efforts during the ongoing blockade, which is going exactly as designed and, frankly, exceeding my own expectations. We remain fully committed to total enforcement of the naval blockade, and that is happening as we're on this call.

Let me close, finally, by saying, I just couldn't be prouder of all the men and women in uniform serving across the Middle East. They're really doing a tremendous work and represent the strongest fighting force the world has ever known. And I know the American people share this same pride. Again, thanks for joining the call, and I'm happy to take a few questions.

CAPT Hawkins: All right. Thank you, sir. Courtney Kube from NBC. We'll get started with you.

Courtney Kube, NBC: Thank you. Hey, Admiral Cooper, thank you so much for doing this. I'm sure you're tired. Can you, can you talk a little bit more about the how Iran has, as you said, it interfered. So, you said six Iranian small boats were eliminated. I assume it means they were blown up by Apaches. Can you talk a little bit more about what preceded that? Exactly? And then the cruise missiles. How were they shot down, and were any of them actually targeting the U.S.? Any U.S. Navy ships, or were they specifically going after the U.S. flagship that the U.S. was guiding?

Admiral Cooper: Yeah. Courtney, thanks for this. So, I can break it down in broad terms. The cruise missiles were going after both U.S. Navy ships, but mostly after commercial shipping. We defended both ourselves and consistent with our commitment, we defended all the commercial ships. We've had drones launched against commercial ships, all of which were defended against, consistent with our commitment. And then the small boats were all going against commercial ships, and all were sunk by Apaches and Seahawk helicopters.

CAPT Hawkins: All right. Thanks, Courtney. Over to a Wall Street Journal. Laura Seligman.

Lara Seligman, WSJ: Hi Admiral Cooper, thanks for doing this. Thanks, Tim. A couple questions. Have any U.S. military ships or U.S. flagships been hit by Iranian missiles? And then also, since we've now exchanged fire with Iran, does that mean the ceasefire is now over?

Admiral Cooper: Yeah. I can confirm there's been no U.S. military ships hit, and there's been new no U.S. flagships that have been hit. And I wouldn't go into the details of, whether the ceasefire is over or not. I think the key thing is, we're merely there as a defensive force and to give a very thick, layered defense to commercial shipping to allow them to proceed out of the Arabian Gulf. That's what we're focused on. What we saw this morning was Iran initiating aggressive behavior. We are simply going to respond to that, consistent with the President's direction.

Lara Seligman, WSJ: And to follow up, the UAE port of Fujairah, I believe, and other ships have been hit. We're hearing reports from the region. Are we protecting those assets and the port as well? And I guess a further evidence that the ceasefire is over.

Admiral Cooper: Yeah. I wouldn't want to get into details of what we're protecting, what we're protecting and what we're not. I wouldn't want to tip our hand on that. But in the case of the Fujairah attack, which has been reported, I'd really refer to UAE on that. That's really a matter under their national jurisdiction, and not part of our Project Freedom operation.

CAPT Hawkins: Okay. All right. Fox News, Jen Griffin.

Jennifer Griffin, FOX: Thank you very much. Admiral Cooper. How close did the cruise missiles get to the U.S. Navy ship before they were shot down? And the same with the other U.S. ships. And how close did the drones get as well? And did the two destroyers that are out there helping with that pathway, did they actually go through the Strait of Hormuz? Did they cross back and forth? What happened?

Admiral Cooper: Yeah. I don't want to get into the specific details. All of the missiles and drones that were fired at both us and the commercial ships were effectively engaged. So that's good news. No personnel injuries, in that regard. And also in terms of where specifically in the area, probably not worth, getting into the details. What I will say is, over the past several weeks, we've used low observable capability to clear that path. And we validated that in multiple ways. And then we took the risk by using U.S. flagships to go through first setting the example. Since then, we've had great communication with industry, as I mentioned. And ships, multiple ships are already heading that way. So, the summation of that is we used our own military technology in a unique way to clear a free lane, that's not obstructed in any way, shape or form through the Strait. Then we executed it by setting the example with U.S. ships. And over top of all that, we have a U.S. military defensive umbrella.

Jennifer Griffin, FOX: But, just to follow up, did two, U.S. destroyers or U.S. warships go through the strait in the last 24 hours?

Admiral Cooper: Yes. We have gone through the Strait. As we sit here right now, we have multiple U.S. Navy guided missile destroyers operating in the Arabian Gulf. And those destroyers that are not just there for themselves, they're there to help protect commercial shipping. They've done so already in their part of this broad, air defense umbrella that includes helicopters, as I described, and fighter planes, as well as ISR.

CAPT Hawkins: All right. Next, we'll go to Daily Caller. Reagan Reese.

Reagan Reese, Daily Caller: Thanks so much for this call. Just a question of clarification. I apologize if you've mentioned this already. I just want to clarify that we're not escorting any ships specifically through, ships are just placed in the Strait, and more like sharing intel, it sounds like, about where the mines are. And then just a second question. Could you speak to what you think the damaging power is of these mines that are laid in the Strait?

Admiral Cooper: Yeah. Just the first part of that. Correct. There's not specific escorts. If I can just describe this overall, if you're escorting a ship, you're playing a kind of one-on-one. I think we have a much better defensive arrangement in this process where we have multiple layers that include ships, helicopters, aircraft, airborne early warning, and electronic warfare. We have a much broader defensive package than you would have ever if you were just escorting. I feel good about that. And it was proven, just in the last couple of hours, in terms of mines, I'm not going to talk about specific capabilities. You know, they all have varying degrees of influence. I think the key thing about mines is we have cleared an effective pathway, for ships to leave at this point, for the first time. There seems to be great enthusiasm to do that. So we're going to stay in contact with commercial shipping and support them along the way.

CAPT Hawkins: All right, next, we'll go to Al Arabiya, Pierre Ghanem.

Pierre Ghanem, Al Arabiya: Thank you. Captain. Admiral, do you think that the Iranians have any chance against your forces? And, if I may, the United Arab Emirates is receiving a lot of a threat in the last few hours. Do you think that the countries and the area are well used to defend themselves?

Admiral Cooper: I'll take the second part first. The UAE has exceptional capability. They're well-positioned to defend themselves. And along the way, these last couple of months, have been great teammates. In terms of the first one, Iranian military capability has been dramatically degraded, over these last couple of months. I'll give you just an example. Just from this morning, in my own experience, I've transited through the Strait of Hormuz probably 100 times in my career. You typically see between 20 and 40 small boats in the pack coming out. Today, we saw six, and eliminated them quickly. I think this is an example of the degradation of their capability. It doesn't mean it's all gone, but it's highly degraded.

CAPT Hawkins: Thank you. All right. Reuters, Phil Stewart.

Phil Stewart, Reuters: Yes, could you please explain the extent to which Iran is mining or attempting to mine the Strait?

Admiral Cooper: About mines, I think it’s best to characterize it as it is not so extensive as that. We couldn't use our exquisite technology to clear a pathway, which we've done over the last couple of weeks. We feel good about that. And then put this umbrella over the top of it. I'll just kind of leave it right there.

CAPT Hawkins: Washington Examiner, Mike Brest.

Mike BresT, Washington Examiner: Thank you for doing this. Are there any lessons that were learned during the operations over the last couple of years in the Red Sea that you think are applicable here during this environment? Thank you.

Admiral Cooper: Yeah. I think it's a great question. I mean, one of the things that we in the U.S. military do is we capture lessons learned and apply them in a meaningful way in a very rapid period of time. There's no one that takes lessons or is more agile than the U.S. military. So, for sure they're there. Dozens of lessons immediately applied to problems today, and I've seen them already, being applied. So it's been encouraging and motivating to see that particularly, for instance, as we were engaging in defeating cruise missiles.

CAPT Hawkins: The War Zone, Howard Altman.

Howard Altman, The War Zone: Thanks for doing this. Can you say is this Project Freedom just a one way effort to get ships out of the Strait? Are you going to have them come in the Strait as well? Escort them the strait as well. Protect them in the strait as well? And also about the munitions used by the Apaches?

Admiral Cooper: Yeah. In terms of the pathway cleared, it will ultimately be a two-way path. The most important thing is getting ships, in the near term, out. And then over time, we'll also, forsure see ships go in. We won’t get into the munitions or of how we're doing things tactically. I will just kind of put that off to the side. But the munitions that were used were very effective in the tactics of work, just as described.

CAPT Hawkins: All right. And we're running short on time. So I'll make this our last one. Stars and Stripes, Lara Korte.

Lara Korte, Stars and Stripes: Hi. Thanks so much. Admiral Cooper, this is Laura Korte from Stars and Stripes. I appreciate you taking our questions. Now that we're a couple of weeks into this kind of cease fire period, we're starting to move ships through the Strait. I wanted to ask if you could talk about plans for dependents who have evacuated the region. I know there have been a number of people who are moved out of Bahrain. They're in temporary safe havens in Europe and the U.S. I was hoping you could speak a little bit about whether there are plans to return those dependents to Bahrain. Is there a sense of timelines? What kind of conditions need to be in place for that to happen? Any of your thoughts you could share would be great. Thank you.

Admiral Cooper: Yeah, thanks for asking the question. I mean, taking care of our people is priority number one for me. Our team here, as well as, our Navy team and our joint team has paid very close attention to the groups that are in both Italy and Germany. We've had daily contact and have had teams on the ground. They've been well taken care of, most moved to our folks in Germany. They have kids who are in school, and that schooling was able to continue. And of course, now we're approaching the end of the school year. We'll see what the future looks like. It's my goal to get them back to Bahrain as soon as possible. We did a little survey and 90% of them want to get back, as quickly as they can. So I think that says a lot both about, what their family life is like in Bahrain, as well as their motivation, as well as how well the team there in Germany is taking care of them. Thanks so much.

Carla Babb, NewsMax: Hey, this is Carl Babb, NewsMax. So you've had two ships that have gone through. Was that today? Should we see more coming through? Do you foresee that? And how many ships have been attacked and how many bases have been attacked since this restarted?

Admiral Cooper: Yeah, a couple of things. So, there are others who are in route, to take advantage of the passageway. So that's great news there. And as I mentioned, there's a lot of enthusiasm to be able to move out among the 87 countries impacted by this. And the second part of the question was still a little bit broken up. You just give it to me one more time.

Carla Babb, NewsMax: So how many ships have been attacked so far?

Admiral Cooper: Yeah, I think I, I think best not to talk about the number. In an operational context, one of the lessons learned is don't tell the enemy. You know, what they've been able to achieve or not achieved. In our case, we are confident and we know for certain we've been able to defeat the attacks. But I don't want the Iranians knowing what they were able to do, what that looked like, what the distances were. I just think that's, you know, that type of approach is a big mistake. I think we're on a good path right now. Thank you so much.

Admiral Cooper: Okay. Hey, just a couple of things. I think, you know, it's really important to emphasize just a couple of things. First, two separate and distinct, operations going on today. And that is, the blockade, enforced in the Gulf of Oman, preventing commerce from Iranian ports going in and out. It's been 100% effective. And then second, an opening of a passageway in the Strait of Hormuz that's allowing merchant vessels that have been, through no fault of their own, essentially held hostage, for weeks, if not months in the Arabian Gulf. As I mentioned, a lot of enthusiasm for them to leave and some ships have started to go. We're there to provide defensive-only operations. Proud to do it, and I’m encouraged by the results so far. So thanks so much everybody.