Ship in the Strait of Hormuz near Bandar Abbas, Iran, May 4, 2026.
Amirhossein Khorgui | ISNA | wanna via reuters
President Donald Trump said Tuesday he is halting “Project Freedom,” the U.S. military’s effort to expel commercial vessels from the Strait of Hormuz, a day after the operation began.
Trump, in one satya social postSaid that the decision was partly based “on the fact that great progress has been made toward a full and final agreement with Iran”.
“Project Freedom will be paused for a short period of time to see if the agreement can be finalized and signed,” Trump wrote.
Stock futures rose after Trump’s announcement, which raised hopes of a peace deal that would end the US-Israeli war in Iran and reopen the economically vital strait.
Announcing Project Freedom on Sunday evening, Trump said the US has assured countries whose ships are stuck because of the war that it will “safely get their ships out of these restricted waterways.”
The Trump administration has said about 23,000 sailors aboard ships representing 87 countries are stranded in the Persian Gulf due to Iran’s de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
US Central Command It said Sunday evening that the military would deploy “guided-missile destroyers, more than 100 land- and sea-based aircraft, multi-domain unmanned platforms and 15,000 service members” to support Project Freedom.
Iran has responded with renewed hostility to Project Freedom.
The United Arab Emirates said on Monday it was attacked by ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones coming from Iran, resulting in three people being injured.
CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper told reporters The same day when Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps “launched multiple cruise missiles, drones and small boats at the ships we are protecting.”
A ship operated by South Korea also caught fire on Monday in the Strait of Hormuz. Trump later said this Iran attacked it.
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