Trump Pauses Project Freedom To Guide Stranded Vessels Out Of Strait Of Hormuz

President Donald Trump said the U.S. and Iran have made "Great Progress" toward a final agreement and announced he is pausing "Project Freedom" to guide stranded vessels out of the Strait of Hormuz. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said the U.S.-Iran ceasefire "certainly holds" for now, while he described Project Freedom as a separate and "temporary" operation. The pause came after Trump said the decision was made at the request of Pakistan, which has helped mediate negotiations. The U.S. effort follows an earlier shift in which Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the offensive military operation known as Operation Epic Fury has concluded and that the U.S. has moved on to Project Freedom.

In a Pentagon news conference, Rubio said the operation is over, saying, "The operation is over. Epic Fury – as the president notified Congress – we’re done with that stage of it," while he also said the U.S. was working to get ships through the strait as a "favour to the world … because we’re the only ones that can." Hegseth told reporters that the ceasefire is not over, saying, "The cease-fire is not over," and he said Iran had attacked US forces "more than 10 times" since the April 8 cease-fire. The BBC described Project Freedom as a humanitarian gesture "meant to free up people, companies, and Countries that have done absolutely nothing wrong," and it reported that the Hormuz Strait has remained largely blocked since the U.S. and Israel launched air strikes on Iran on 28 February. The BBC also reported that Centcom said guided-missile destroyers were operating in the Gulf after transiting the Strait of Hormuz in support of Project Freedom, while Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps denied any vessels had passed through the Strait.

As Trump paused Project Freedom, the Globe and Mail reported the U.S. and Iran are closing in on an agreement on a one-page memorandum to end the war in the Gulf, with a proposed 14-point framework. The Globe and Mail said the memorandum would formally end the war, followed by discussions to unblock shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, lift U.S. sanctions on Iran, and agree curbs on Iran’s nuclear program. It also reported that Trump wrote, "Assuming Iran agrees to give what has been agreed to," and warned that "If they don’t agree, the bombing starts" at a higher level and intensity. In parallel, the BBC reported that Iran has said vessels can only cross the pivotal waterway with its authorisation, and it noted that Iran’s military said it has fired at US warships to deter them from navigating the waterway even as the pause was announced.