US President Donald Trump said the US military told him they had been sinking Iranian ships simply because they considered it «more fun» that way. He stated that, in their view, Iran no longer had a fleet at all, claiming that 46 ships were now lying on the ocean floor.

Trump admitted he was disappointed by this approach, since some of the Iranian warships, as he put it, might have been first-rate vessels and potentially useful to the United States. He added that he later asked his subordinates why they had not tried to seize at least one of the ships instead of destroying it. According to Trump, the military replied that sinking the vessel was the safer option.

A few days after the start of the joint US-Israeli operation against Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced that it had established full control over the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran also reported that a US destroyer and a tanker had been hit in the Indian Ocean. The IRGC said that after a ban on shipping through the strait was introduced, more than ten oil tankers came under attack.

The United States, for its part, also reported strikes on Iranian ships. On 6 March, US Central Command stated that it had destroyed an Iranian warship that was being used to launch unmanned aerial vehicles.