President Donald Trump has paused ‘Project Freedom’, the US operation to guide stranded vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, for a “short period of time”, citing significant progress in negotiations with Iran to end the conflict.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the decision was made following requests from several countries, including Pakistan, which has acted as an intermediary between Washington and Tehran.
The president, however, asserted that the naval blockade in the strait will remain fully in effect.
“Based on the request of Pakistan and other countries, the tremendous military success that we have had during the campaign against Iran, and additionally the fact that great progress has been made toward a complete and final agreement with representatives of Iran, we have mutually agreed that, while the blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom (the movement of ships through the Strait of Hormuz) will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the agreement can be finalized and signed,” Trump wrote.
The US launched Project Freedom on Monday to escort ships stranded due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz to safety. The US Central Command said the military would deploy “guided-missile destroyers, over 100 land- and sea-based aircraft, multi-domain unmanned platforms, and 15,000 service members” to support the operation.
However, the project led to fresh conflicts in the waterway, with the UAE claiming that some of its ships were attacked by Iran. The US also claimed to have destroyed several Iranian small boats.
Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s major oil chokepoints, since the conflict began on February 28, crippling global oil markets and driving inflation in many countries.
Interestingly, Trump’s latest Truth Social post came hours after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Operation Epic Fury, launched on February 28, had concluded after achieving its objectives.
“Operation Epic Fury is concluded. We achieved the objectives of that operation. We're not cheering for an additional situation to occur. We would prefer the path of peace. What @POTUS would prefer is a deal... that is, so far, not the route that Iran has chosen,” Rubio said at a White House press conference.