President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday evening that the US operation to guide stranded vessels through the Strait of Hormuz would be paused for a “short period of time<\/b>.”<\/p>\n
Trump stated that “Project Freedom<\/b>,” which commenced days prior, would be halted by “mutual agreement<\/b>” due to “great progress<\/b>” achieved towards a deal with Iran.<\/p>\n
Iranian state media characterized the pause as a “victory<\/b>,” asserting it demonstrated Trump had “retreated<\/b>” following “continued failures<\/b>” to reopen the vital waterway for global shipping.<\/p>\n
The US president’s announcement coincided with Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s statement that the initial US-Israeli offensive in Iran, designated as “Operation Epic Fury<\/b>,” had concluded after achieving its objectives.<\/p>\n
In a social media post, Trump indicated that his decision was made “based on the request of Pakistan<\/b>,” which has served as an intermediary between the US and Iran. He further noted that the “US blockade of Iranian ports<\/b>” would remain in effect.<\/p>\n
Trump’s announcement may come as a surprise to some, as it appeared to contradict a day’s worth of messaging from Secretary Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, all of whom had vowed the operation would ensure “freedom of navigation and commerce<\/b>” in the Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf.<\/p>\n
“We would prefer the “path of peace<\/b>.” What the president [Donald Trump] would prefer is “a deal<\/b>,”” Rubio informed reporters on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The immediate future remains unclear. The administration had previously emphasized that Project Freedom was a “separate and distinct<\/b>” campaign from the blockade, which aims to exert economic pressure on Iran.<\/p>\n
Project Freedom was intended to help “restore the flow of oil<\/b>” from the region and facilitate the global economy’s eventual return to normalcy by guiding stranded ships out of the Gulf through the largely closed waterway. However, if during this “pause,” global shipping firms and their associated insurance companies face obstruction due to “Iranian interference<\/b>,” it will be challenging for Trump to assert that the objective has been met.<\/p>\n
Conversely, the administration might hope that freezing Project Freedom, an initiative strongly objected to by the Iranians, could help bring them back to the “negotiating table<\/b>.”<\/p>\n
Rubio’s earlier comments followed a series of attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, which had fueled concerns that the “ceasefire between the US and Iran was in jeopardy<\/b>.”<\/p>\n
Tehran did not issue a comment on Rubio’s statement, but Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Ghalibaf had previously stated: “We know well that the continuation of the status quo is “intolerable for America<\/b>,” while we are “just getting started<\/b>.””<\/p>\n
Ghalibaf, who served as Iran’s top negotiator in last month’s talks with the US, asserted: “”Shipping security and energy transit have been jeopardized<\/b>” by the US and its allies through ceasefire violations and the blockade. However, their evil acts will fail.”<\/p>\n
Late on Tuesday, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported that a verified source had informed them of a “cargo vessel being struck “by an unknown projectile”<\/b>” in the Strait of Hormuz. Further details were not immediately available.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, the UAE stated that its air defenses were engaging missiles and drones from Iran for the second consecutive day. On Monday, it had accused Iran of launching missiles and drones, including a strike on an oil port in the emirate of Fujairah, located outside the Strait of Hormuz, labeling it a “dangerous escalation<\/b>.”<\/p>\n
“Iran on Tuesday denied launching any attacks<\/b>” on the UAE, with a military spokesman stating: “If such an action had been taken, we would have announced it firmly and clearly.”<\/p>\n
Operation Epic Fury commenced on February 28, with the US and Israel launching a wave of airstrikes on Iran. Tehran responded by blocking the crucial waterway through which “20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas<\/b>” typically passes.<\/p>\n
In early April, the US and Iran announced a “ceasefire<\/b>,” under which Iran ceased its drone and missile strikes on Gulf countries, including the UAE. However, few vessels have been able to transit the strait since then. Concurrently, the US imposed its own “blockade on Iranian ports<\/b>.”<\/p>\n
On Monday, the US reported attacking seven Iranian fast boats in the strait, while Iran claimed it had fired warning shots at a US vessel. Both sides denied the respective claims. Two commercial ships reported attacks, and one stated it had successfully exited the strait under a US military escort, as part of “Donald Trump’s plan to unblock the strait<\/b>.”<\/p>\n
Speaking at the White House, Rubio stated that while Trump desired a deal, “That is so far “not the route that Iran has chosen<\/b>,”” adding: “What that may lead to in the future is speculative.”<\/p>\n
He asserted that US and Israeli attacks on Iran had caused “generational destruction to their economy<\/b>” and that the country’s leaders should “check themselves before they wreck themselves in the direction that they’re going.”<\/p>\n
Hegseth affirmed that the ceasefire with Iran was “not over<\/b>.”<\/p>\n
“Right now the ceasefire certainly holds, but we’re going to be “watching very, very closely<\/b>,”” Hegseth remarked during a press conference on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Caine noted that while Iran had attacked US forces 10 times since the ceasefire began, these attacks were “below the threshold<\/b>” for resuming full-scale fighting “at this point.”<\/p>\n
When later asked by reporters what would constitute a breach of the ceasefire by Iran, Trump responded: “You’ll find out because I’ll let you know.” He also expressed his belief that a “negotiated settlement<\/b>” with Iran to end the conflict remained possible.<\/p>\n
The various comments from American officials suggest that the US has “little desire or appetite to return to full-scale operations<\/b>,” which could further disturb markets, send prices skyrocketing, and face opposition from large segments of the American public.<\/p>\n
Trump also mentioned that he is discussing the “strait’s reopening<\/b>” with Japan and anticipates a positive conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the matter during his visit to China next week.<\/p>\n
#StraitOfHormuz #Trump #Iran #USForeignPolicy #MiddleEast #Geopolitics #OilShipping #ProjectFreedom #Ceasefire #InternationalRelations<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday evening that the US operation to guide stranded vessels through the Strait of Hormuz would be paused for a “short period of time.” Trump stated that “Project Freedom,” which commenced days prior, would be halted by “mutual agreement” due to “great progress” achieved towards a deal with Iran. Iranian […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7508,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-iran_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7507","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=7507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}