The US operation to guide ships stuck through the Strait of Hormuz will be suspended for a “short period of time”, announced President Donald Trump, according to the BBC.
Trump said that “Project Freedom,” which began a few days earlier, would be stopped by “mutual agreement” because “great progress” had been made toward a deal with Iran.
Iranian state media characterized it as a victory, saying Trump had “retired” after “continued failures” to reopen this vital waterway for global shipping.
The US president's announcement came as Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared that the initial US-Israeli offensive in Iran – Operation Epic Fury – was over.
In a social media post, Trump said he made the decision “based on the request of Pakistan,” which has acted as an intermediary between the US and Iran. He added that the US blockade of Iranian ports would remain in place.
Trump's announcement may surprise some. It undermines a day's worth of messages from Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine — all of whom said the operation would ensure freedom of navigation and commerce in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf.
“We would prefer the path of peace. Which is what the president would prefer [Donald Trump] it's a deal,” Rubio told reporters Tuesday.
What will happen next is unclear. The administration had emphasized that Project Freedom was a “separate and distinct” blockade campaign aimed at putting economic pressure on Iran.
Project Freedom was meant to help restore the flow of oil from the region and eventually return the global economy to normal by guiding stranded ships out of the Gulf through the largely closed waterways.
On the other hand, the administration may hope that freezing Project Freedom — which the Iranians have vehemently opposed — will help bring them back to the negotiating table.
Ghalibaf, Iran's chief negotiator in last month's talks with the US, said: “The security of shipping and energy transit has been put at risk by the US and its allies through the ceasefire violation and blockade. However, their evil acts will fail.”
On Tuesday evening, UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said a verified source told it that a cargo ship had been hit “by an unknown projectile” in the Strait of Hormuz. Other details were not immediately available.
Earlier in the day, the United Arab Emirates said its air defenses had attacked missiles and drones from Iran for the second day in a row.
Iran denied on Tuesday that it had launched any attack on the United Arab Emirates, with a military spokesman saying that “If such action had been taken, we would have announced it firmly and clearly.”
Various comments from US officials suggest the US has little appetite to return to large-scale operations – further disrupting markets, causing prices to skyrocket and facing opposition from large swathes of the American public.
Trump also said he is discussing reopening the strait with Japan and expects to have a positive conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the issue when he visits China next week.
