Trump Pauses Hormuz Escort Amid Iran Negotiations
US President Donald Trump announced Tuesday night that the United States will pause Project Freedom, the American operation to guide stranded commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, for what he described as a “short period of time.”
US President Donald Trump announced Tuesday night that the United States will pause Project Freedom, the American operation to guide stranded commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, for what he described as a “short period of time.”
Trump said the pause was reached by “mutual agreement” after “great progress” toward a possible deal with Iran. He said the decision came “based on the request of Pakistan,” which has been acting as an intermediary between Washington and Tehran, while adding that the US blockade of Iranian ports will remain in place.
The announcement came only days after Project Freedom began, and after senior US officials spent much of Tuesday stressing that the operation was meant to restore freedom of navigation and commercial traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine had all presented the mission as part of Washington’s effort to reopen one of the world’s most important shipping routes.
Iranian state media quickly framed Trump’s announcement as a victory, saying the pause showed that the US president had “retreated” after failing to reopen the waterway. Tehran had strongly opposed the American escort mission.
Rubio said earlier Tuesday that the initial US-Israeli offensive against Iran, Operation Epic Fury, was over after achieving its objectives. The operation began on February 28, when the US and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran. Iran responded by blocking the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas usually passes. Because apparently the global economy needed one more pressure point, as a treat.
Rubio said Trump still preferred a negotiated settlement, but added that Iran had not yet chosen that path. He said the strikes had caused “generational destruction” to Iran’s economy and warned Iranian leaders to reconsider their current course.
Hegseth said the ceasefire with Iran “certainly holds” for now, while Caine said Iran had attacked US forces 10 times since the ceasefire began. He said those attacks remained “below the threshold” for resuming full-scale fighting.
The pause follows renewed incidents in and around the strait. UK Maritime Trade Operations said late Tuesday that a cargo vessel had been struck by an unknown projectile. The UAE also said its air defenses engaged Iranian missiles and drones for a second straight day, after accusing Iran of striking an oil port in Fujairah. Iran denied launching the attacks.
Project Freedom was intended to help commercial vessels leave the Gulf and restore confidence among shipping firms and insurers. The pause leaves the mission’s future uncertain, even as the US maintains that its blockade of Iranian ports remains separate from the escort operation.