Donald Trump Halts Project Freedom After Saudi Arabia Blocks US Bases And Airspace

President Donald Trump abruptly halted “Project Freedom,” a US operation to escort commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, after Saudi Arabia reportedly pushed back against US access to key bases and airspace.

The decision followed a failed phone call between Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and the report said Kuwait also reportedly denied Washington access to its bases and airspace for the proposed mission.

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The pause came as the White House projected confidence about securing a deal with Iran to ease recent tensions, with Trump saying “great progress” had been made in negotiations with Tehran and announcing a pause in the operation.

The plan had been launched on Monday, and the report said it was aimed at restoring maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, where shipping had faced major disruptions amid the Iran-US conflict.

NBC News reporting, as described by the Jerusalem Post, said Gulf allies were surprised by Trump’s Sunday announcement of Project Freedom and that Saudi Arabia told the US it would not allow aircraft to fly from the Saudi Prince Sultan Airbase or through Saudi airspace.

A White House official said, “regional allies were notified in advance,” while a Middle Eastern diplomat told the Jerusalem Post that “The US made an announcement and then coordinated with us,” adding that Oman officials “were not upset or angry.”

Al-Hurra

The TRT Français account likewise said a call between Trump and the Saudi crown prince “n'aurait pas permis de régler la question,” and it described Saudi Arabia as suspending access to bases and airspace for the operation.

In the same reporting thread, a Saudi source told NBC that the crown prince and other Saudi officials “have been in touch regularly” with Trump, US Vice President JD Vance, US Central Command (CENTCOM), and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The New York Post said Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have quietly reopened their bases and airspace to the US military, a development that could restart the currently paused “Project Freedom” mission to protect ships from Iranian attacks.

The New York Post also quoted Iranian parliament national security committee chairman Ebrahim Azizi warning on X, “Making the same mistake again and again won’t get you a different answer; only a stronger one,” and it said he urged “Respect the new Maritime Regime of Iran.”

The Indian Express report said the Strait of Hormuz carries a major share of global oil shipments and that instability has triggered sharp swings in crude oil prices in recent months, while it also said negotiations continue as 20% of the world’s oil supply sits bottlenecked.

The Al Ain News account said Trump announced the Freedom Project would be suspended while the naval embargo on Iran would continue, and it quoted him on Truth Social that the suspension would be “to explore the possibility of negotiating and signing the agreement.”