US President Donald Trump announced a temporary pause in the military operation aimed at guiding merchant ships through the Strait of Hormuz<\/b>, just two days after its initial declaration.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, President Trump had stated that “Project Freedom<\/b>” would commence the following morning. This initiative was intended to address security concerns in the crucial waterway, which has experienced heightened tensions.<\/p>\n
Concerns regarding the safety of ships transiting the strait \u2013 a vital route for approximately 20% of the world’s oil and gas \u2013 had contributed to increases in oil prices and broader economic anxieties.<\/p>\n
However, 50 hours later, the president posted that the mission was being put on hold “for a short period of time.”<\/p>\n
This decision came on the same day his defense secretary had stated the US was “leading with strength, clarity and purpose for the benefit of the entire world.”<\/p>\n
BBC Verify has compiled a timeline of events during the two days of “Project Freedom.”<\/p>\n
“For the good of Iran, the Middle East, and the United States, we have told these Countries that we will guide their Ships safely out of these restricted Waterways, so that they can freely and ably get on with their business,” Trump posted on his Truth Social social media platform at 21:35 BST (20:35 GMT).<\/p>\n
He added, “I have told my Representatives to inform them that we will use best efforts to get their Ships and Crews safely out of the Strait.”<\/p>\n
According to the Baltic and International Maritime Council shipping association, approximately 1,000 vessels with around 20,000 seafarers were reported to be in the region facing transit challenges.<\/p>\n
“I am fully aware that my Representatives are having very positive discussions with the Country of Iran, and that these discussions could lead to something very positive for all,” he further stated.<\/p>\n
Just after midnight UK time on Monday, the US military’s Central Command (Centcom) posted that its forces “will begin supporting Project Freedom, 4 May, to restore freedom of navigation for commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz<\/b>.”<\/p>\n
Centcom indicated that “Project Freedom” would involve guided-missile destroyers, over 100 land and sea-based aircraft, and 15,000 service personnel.<\/p>\n
According to UKMTO \u2013 the British military’s operation tracking threats to shipping in the Middle East \u2013 the US was advising vessels to pass through a “security area” off the Oman coast.<\/p>\n
Later that day, Centcom posted: “As a first step, two US-flagged merchant vessels have successfully transited through the Strait of Hormuz<\/b> and are safely headed on their journey.”<\/p>\n
During the first day of the operation, the US military claimed to have struck seven Iranian “fast boats” in the strait. This claim was disputed by Iranian media, with the Tasnim news agency reporting that military sources stated two small cargo vessels had been hit, resulting in five civilian fatalities.<\/p>\n
On Monday, the UAE’s foreign ministry reported a tanker affiliated with Adnoc \u2013 its state-owned oil company \u2013 was hit in the Strait of Hormuz<\/b>, and South Korea reported an explosion on one of its ships anchored just off the UAE.<\/p>\n
A fire also broke out at the oil port of Fujairah, which the UAE attributed to an Iranian attack, a claim Iran denied.<\/p>\n
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Dan Caine focused on “Project Freedom<\/b>” at a Pentagon news conference on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
“Hundreds more ships from nations around the world are lining up to transit,” Hegseth said, while Caine added: “Merchant vessels have transited and we anticipate more to transit over the coming days.”<\/p>\n
Neither offered an exact timeline for how long the project would last, but Hegseth said it was “focused in scope and temporary in duration.”<\/p>\n
“Project Freedom<\/b> is under way, commerce will be flowing, and America is once again leading with strength, clarity and purpose for the benefit of the entire world. Our will is unshakable,” he added.<\/p>\n
Later that day, America’s top diplomat, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, spoke to reporters at the White House \u2013 stating the US was carrying out the operation as a “favour to the world” as it was “the only country that can project power in that part of the world the way we’re doing now.”<\/p>\n
Just hours after Hegseth and Rubio had spoken, Trump paused “Project Freedom<\/b>.”<\/p>\n
At 18:52 Washington time (23:52 BST), he posted on Truth Social saying the decision had been made by “mutual agreement<\/b>” because there had been “great progress<\/b>” towards a deal with Iran.<\/p>\n
“Project Freedom<\/b> (The Movement of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz<\/b>) will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed,” the president posted.<\/p>\n
The project \u2013 which Hegseth said earlier the same day was part of a “laser-focused strategy” \u2013 had been put on hold.<\/p>\n
A little over four hours before Trump’s announcement, a ship belonging to the French CMA CGM group was hit in the Strait of Hormuz<\/b> \u2013 injuring some of the crew and damaging the vessel.<\/p>\n
According to the shipping publication Lloyd’s List, ship owners and insurers said “Project Freedom<\/b>” had not given them “sufficient clarity or credible protection to justify resuming transits” through the strait.<\/p>\n
“Transit volumes through the Strait of Hormuz<\/b> continue to drop amid escalating security concerns,” it added.<\/p>\n
#StraitOfHormuz #ProjectFreedom #USForeignPolicy #MiddleEastSecurity #ShippingSafety #GlobalOil #Diplomacy #Iran #USIranRelations #MaritimeSecurity<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
US President Donald Trump announced a temporary pause in the military operation aimed at guiding merchant ships through the Strait of Hormuz, just two days after its initial declaration. On Sunday, President Trump had stated that “Project Freedom” would commence the following morning. This initiative was intended to address security concerns in the crucial waterway, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7112,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7111\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}