US pauses Hormuz escorts
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that his new initiative aimed at breaking Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz will be halted for a while, claiming that a peace deal with the country may be on the horizon.
Just a day after the initiative, called Project Freedom, began, Trump said on social media that the decision was made “based on the request of Pakistan,” a mediator between the United States and Iran, and other countries.
Trump wrote that “Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran,” with the two sides confirming the pause of the new US operation for “a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed.”
Trump, however, said the United States will maintain its naval blockade of ships leaving or entering Iranian ports, one of the sticking points in the ongoing negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
Stranded ships
On Monday, the US military started the operation to guide stranded commercial ships through the strait, which Iran has effectively closed since the country came under attack by the United States and Israel in late February.
But only a few US-flagged merchant vessels are known to have successfully transited the waterway with military escorts under the operation, the beginning of which triggered an exchange of fire between the United States and Iran.
Both the US and Iran claimed to be in control of the important trade corridor.
Trump said on Monday that Iran had also fired shots at a South Korean cargo ship and other targets unrelated to Project Freedom.
Before his social media post, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at a press conference that the US military campaign against Iran, dubbed Operation Epic Fury, has met its objectives and is over.
Earlier in the day, the United States renewed its call for Japan, South Korea, and other allies to help reopen the key trade passage, amid a fresh spike in Middle East tensions.
“We hope South Korea would step up, just like we hope Japan would step up, just like we hope Australia would step up, just like we hope Europe steps up,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a press conference at the Pentagon in the morning.
‘Very nice’
A day earlier, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged China to “step up” its diplomacy, given that it has long purchased most of Iran’s oil exports.
Trump, who is slated to visit Beijing next week for a highly anticipated meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, said the Iran war will be one of the subjects discussed with Xi, adding that the Chinese leader has been “very nice about this.”
Hegseth reiterated Washington’s claim that the US military had been working on behalf of other countries.
“This is a temporary mission for us. As I’ve said before, the world needs this waterway a lot more than we do. We’re stabilizing the situation so commerce can flow again, but we expect the world to step up at the appropriate time,” he said.
According to Gen. Dan Caine, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who attended the press conference with Hegseth, about 22,500 mariners on more than 1,550 commercial vessels are now stranded in the Persian Gulf and unable to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
