Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at the next phase of the U.S.-Iran war, Taiwan’s long-standing friendship with Eswatini, and crucial state elections in India.

Fighting flared across the Persian Gulf on Monday, as U.S. and Iranian strikes linked to the start of “Project Freedom” threatened to upend the two countries’ already fragile cease-fire.

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at the next phase of the U.S.-Iran war, Taiwan’s long-standing friendship with Eswatini, and crucial state elections in India.

Fighting flared across the Persian Gulf on Monday, as U.S. and Iranian strikes linked to the start of “Project Freedom” threatened to upend the two countries’ already fragile cease-fire.

According to U.S. Central Command, the new U.S. operation—which took effect on Monday—aims to restore freedom of navigation for commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. To accomplish this, the U.S. military plans to use guided-missile destroyers, more than 100 land- and sea-based aircraft, multidomain unmanned platforms, and some 15,000 service members to “guide” commercial vessels through the strategic waterway.

By declaring a new campaign from Operation Epic Fury, the Trump administration sidesteps a 60-day deadline that expired on Friday to end the fighting in Iran. And while the U.S. military insists that Project Freedom is a “defensive mission,” U.S. President Donald Trump told Fox News on Monday that Iran will be “blown off the face of the Earth” if it attacks U.S. forces escorting ships through Hormuz.

The White House’s warning comes after U.S. Navy warships shot down several Iranian cruise missiles and drones targeting vessels in the strait, according to Centcom commander Adm. Brad Cooper. U.S. Army Apache helicopter gunships also destroyed six Iranian military speedboats that reportedly threatened Project Freedom, Cooper said. A senior Iranian official denied these claims.

The U.S. military also claimed that two U.S.-flagged merchant ships had successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran denied such crossings on Monday and instead said that Iranian missiles had struck a U.S. vessel that was “violating maritime security and........

© Foreign Policy