Washington has agreed to a short-term suspension of its naval escort operation in the Strait of Hormuz following back-channel progress toward a comprehensive agreement with Tehran, Donald Trump has confirmed on Wednesday.
Trump announces temporary halt to Freedom project
The US president Donald Trump has announced that the “Project Freedom” – a naval mission to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz – will be suspended for a short period to allow for the possible finalisation and signing of an agreement with Iran.
“Based on a request from Pakistan and other nations, the tremendous military success we have achieved during the campaign against Iran, and furthermore the significant progress made towards a complete and final agreement with Iranian representatives, we have mutually agreed that, while the blockade remains in place, the fully operational Project Freedom (the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz) will be paused briefly to see whether a final agreement can be reached and signed,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
The announcement came just hours after the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, declared the military operation “Epic Fury” complete, adding that Washington would now focus on Operation “Project Freedom.”
Iranian foreign minister heads to Beijing for talks
Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has arrived in Beijing for talks on “regional and international developments” with his Chinese counterpart. It marks the first face-to-face meeting between the two friendly nations’ top diplomats since the start of US and Israeli military action against the Islamic Republic.
Earlier, Trump stated that from Monday, the US would begin assisting vessels currently blocked in the Strait of Hormuz that are seeking to leave. He clarified that these are ships belonging to countries not involved in the Washington–Tehran standoff. The president stressed that those vessels would not be permitted to return to the Strait until the Iranian crisis is resolved.
Trump described the effort as humanitarian in nature, noting that sailors stranded aboard the blocked ships are often suffering from food shortages and other hardships.
