The president said he paused the operation to give an opportunity to see if a final agreement could be reached with Iran.
President Donald Trump announced that he was pausing Project Freedom, the mission of assisting commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, in a Truth Social post on Tuesday evening.
Although the U.S. blockade against Iranian ports will remain in effect, Trump said there has been great military success and progress toward a final agreement with Iran.
“Project Freedom (The Movement of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz) will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed,” Trump wrote in his post.
The latest development in the war against Iran comes at the request of Pakistan and other countries, Trump added.
Pakistan has been a key player in mediating peace talks between the United States and Iran.
Contrasting his Tuesday announcement, Trump spoke with radio host Hugh Hewitt on May 4 about the ongoing conflict and said the timeframe for ending the war might be extended.
“We’ve taken out much of what we’d have to do,” Trump said, adding the war would last “probably another two weeks. Two weeks, maybe three weeks.”
The president reinforced his stance that Tehran cannot be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon and told the radio host: “One way or the other, we win.”
“We either make the right deal, or we win very easily. From the military standpoint, we’ve already won that,” Trump said. “You’ve heard me say it a million times, and other people say it: [Iran] had 159 ships. … Now, they have none. They’re all at the bottom of the sea.”
Project Freedom was the product of weeks of preparations to establish a safe and defensive passage through the Strait of Hormuz for more than 1,500 commercial vessels stuck inside the Persian Gulf. The Iranian regime made disrupting shipping traffic through the international waterway a main focus of its retaliatory tactics.
About 15,000 U.S. military personnel, 25 U.S. warships, and more than 100 aircraft were assigned to support Project Freedom.
Earlier Tuesday before Trump’s announcement on pausing the operation, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said it was actively engaged with missile and drone strikes from Iran. It was the second day of Iranian attacks against the country.
On Monday, the Gulf nation reported that it had intercepted more than a dozen missile and drone attacks from Iran, and only hours before that, the UAE also said an oil-producing port facility was attacked.
The UAE’s air defense systems “are currently dealing with missile and drone attacks originating from Iran,” the country’s Ministry of Defense wrote in a post on X about the attacks.
“Sounds heard in scattered areas of the country are the result of the UAE’s air defense systems intercepting ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones,” it added.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed his solidarity with the UAE in a post on X.
“Pakistan stands firmly with our Emirati brothers and sisters as well as with the Government of the United Arab Emirates at this difficult time,” Sharif said. “It is absolutely essential that the ceasefire be upheld and respected, to allow necessary diplomatic space for dialogue leading to enduring peace and stability in the region.”
The Gulf country’s Tuesday announcement came the same day U.S. War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the ceasefire with Iran is not over despite Tehran’s series of attacks in recent days. But Hegseth also warned Iran that it could still be met with an “overwhelming and devastating” force from the United States.
“We prefer this to be a peaceful operation, but are locked and loaded to defend our people, our ships, our aircraft, and this mission,” Hegseth said in a press conference.
The war secretary said Iran’s actions in the Persian Gulf were below the threshold of “major combat operations.”
The Gulf country’s Tuesday announcement came the same day U.S. War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the ceasefire with Iran is not over despite Tehran’s series of attacks in recent days. But Hegseth also warned Iran that it could still be met with an “overwhelming and devastating” force from the United States.
“We prefer this to be a peaceful operation, but are locked and loaded to defend our people, our ships, our aircraft, and this mission,” Hegseth said in a press conference.
The war secretary said Iran’s actions in the Persian Gulf were below the threshold of “major combat operations.”
“Since the ceasefire was announced, Iran has fired at commercial vessels nine times and seized two container ships, and they’ve attacked U.S. forces more than 10 times—all below the threshold of restarting major combat operations at this point,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine added at the May 5 press conference.
Before Trump announced the pausing of Project Freedom on Tuesday evening, Hegseth touted the operation’s success, saying that two U.S. commercial ships, escorted by two American destroyers, had already safely navigated the Strait of Hormuz.
“We know the Iranians are embarrassed by this fact,” Hegseth said. “They said they control the strait. They do not.”
By Troy Myers
