Trump pauses 'Project Freedom' mission in Strait of Hormuz to test possible Iran deal
Donald Trump has put his short-lived effort to shepherd commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz on hold, saying the pause will allow time to see whether a “complete and final agreement with representatives of Iran” can be finalised.
Iran had branded the initiative, known as Project Freedom, as “Project Deadlock.” The move comes days after Mr Trump vowed to push traffic through the chokepoint, defying Iranian warnings not to challenge its blockade. Since the start of its war with the US and Israel, Iran has blocked nearly all shipping through the strait in retaliation.
For more than two months, and despite a ceasefire now in place, thousands of ships have been stuck in the Arabian Gulf, severely affecting oil exports and disrupting international energy supplies. The US has imposed its own naval blockade on Iranian ships in return.
Announcing the operation on Monday, local time, Mr Trump said the US would guide stranded ships “safely out of these waterways, so that they can freely and ably get on with their business.” He cast the mission as a humanitarian gesture to assist vessels from countries not involved in the war, and warned that any interference would “have to be dealt with forcefully,” though US officials later stressed it is a “defensive operation.” Only a couple of ships made it through earlier this week before the US and Iran exchanged fire and Gulf states came under attack.
On Tuesday, America’s top general, Dan Caine, said US forces had established an “enhanced security area” on the southern side of the strait. He said guided-missile destroyers and other warships were detecting and defeating Iranian threats, including fast boats and one-way attack drones.
The operation involved more than 100 aircraft and 15,000 US service members, he said. General Caine also said Iran’s attacks did not meet the “threshold” for breaking the ceasefire and restarting the war. Before the pause, General Caine said the military planned to guide more ships through the strait in the coming days but did not specify how many or how quickly.
“I’ll let Centcom talk to the number of ships [we] are going to take through because they’re the nearest ones to talking to the commercial shippers and I don’t want to get out in front of them,” he said.
In a Truth Social post, Mr Trump said Project Freedom would be halted “for a short period of time,” citing “the request of Pakistan and other countries” and what he called “tremendous military success” during the US campaign against Iran. Before the war, an average of 138 ships crossed the Strait of Hormuz each day, according to the Joint Maritime Information Centre.
While Project Freedom was underway, just two American-flagged merchant ships made the passage, the US said. More than 1,550 commercial vessels remain “trapped in the Arabian Gulf, unable to transit,” and over 22,500 mariners are stranded on board, according to General Caine.
The next steps are uncertain.
Maisoon Kafafy, senior advisor for Middle East programs at the Atlantic Council, said the outcome “will depend on several variables that remain unsettled.” On the diplomatic track, she said Iran has proposed reopening the strait and ending the war, with nuclear negotiations deferred to a later stage, but talks “remain in a stalemate.” On the military side, she said, securing commercial passage requires not just naval presence but a degree of Iranian restraint, and Iran has shown it is prepared to absorb significant pressure before adjusting its posture.