U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a press briefing at the Pentagon on May 5, 2026 in Arlington, Virginia. Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday said the fragile ceasefire with Iran is still in effect, one day after Tehran attacked U.S. forces and the commercial vessels they were escorting through the Strait of Hormuz. "The ceasefire is not over," Hegseth told reporters at a press briefing at the Pentagon. Iran's aggression came in response to the U.S. launching "Project Freedom," an effort to escort commercial ships out of the Persian Gulf, where many have been stranded since the war began on Feb. 28. Hegseth said there's a distinction between that operation, which President Donald Trump announced Sunday evening, and the broader conflict centered on confronting Iran's nuclear ambitions. "Ultimately, this is a separate, distinct project," he said, "and we expected there would be some churn at the beginning, which happened.…