Trump pauses Hormuz escort plan amid Iran talks

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that “Project Freedom,” a U.S.-led initiative to escort commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, will be temporarily paused as negotiations with Iran advance.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the decision was made “based on the request of Pakistan and other countries” and cited “great progress” toward a potential agreement with Iranian representatives. He added that the U.S. naval blockade of Iran would remain in place.

The pause comes days after U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced the launch of Project Freedom, a military-backed effort involving warships, aircraft and roughly 15,000 personnel to safeguard merchant vessels in the strategic waterway.

The Strait of Hormuz carries about a quarter of the world’s seaborne oil, and the initiative was framed by U.S. officials as both a security and humanitarian measure to assist neutral countries whose ships were stranded amid escalating tensions.

The move follows months of conflict between Washington, Jerusalem and Tehran, including joint U.S.-Israeli operations that began in late February and ended with a ceasefire on April 8.

Prior to Trump’s announcement, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday described “Project Freedom” as separate from “Operation Epic Fury,” the American codename for the joint operation launched on Feb. 28. He described Project Freedom as “defensive in nature, focused in scope, and temporary in duration. With one mission: protecting innocent commercial shipping from Iranian aggression.”

U.S. Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, who participated in the joint press briefing at the Pentagon with Hegseth, said that “on the surface, guided missile destroyers and other warships are detecting and defeating Iranian threats. This includes fast boats and one-way attack drones. In the air, more than 100 fighters, attack aircraft, and other manned and unmanned aircraft, synchronized by the 82nd Airborne Division are in the air 24 hours a day, providing defensive overwatch for the enhanced security area.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a separate press briefing at the White House on Tuesday declared Epic Fury over, saying that “the operation is over. Epic Fury is – the President notified Congress we’re done with that stage of it, okay? We’re now on to this Project Freedom.”

Israeli journalist Barak Ravid reported for Axios on Tuesday that a senior Trump administration official notified Iran on Sunday of the planned U.S. operation to guide commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz and warned Tehran against interfering, citing a U.S. official and another source familiar with the matter. Despite the warning, Iran launched a series of attacks targeting U.S. Navy vessels, commercial shipping and the United Arab Emirates.

Rubio said he has not seen credible signs that Iran is willing to abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions, telling reporters that while Tehran has long claimed it does not seek a bomb, “they just don’t mean it,” adding that “they’re doing all the things and historically have tried to do all the things that you do if you want a nuclear weapons program.”

Pakistan’s foreign minister, Muhammad Ishaq Dar, said on Tuesday that progress is being made in U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks, according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency, which did not provide details. The two sides have held only one round of direct negotiations, when Vice President JD Vance traveled to Islamabad in April, though those talks produced no breakthrough.

Trump “has proven time and again that his preference is peace, but Iran must accept the reality of the situation and come to the negotiation table and accept terms that are good for them but ultimately good for the world,” said Rubio.

“The diplomatic path—and there’s a real diplomatic path. I’m not—know there’s going to be one, but if there’s a real diplomatic path and we continue to explore it—Steve and Jared [Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner] are working on that very hard. If there is one there, it could be one that leads them to reconstruction, to prosperity and to stability, and to not posing a threat to the world. The alternative is growing isolation, economic collapse, and ultimately total defeat. I know what the right choice is for Iran. I hope that the people over there making decisions will make the right one,” Rubio continued.

“The last point I would make—and it really is important for them to understand this—is they really shouldn’t test the will of the United States, at least not under President Donald Trump. He has proven time and again that he will back up what he says. And if they test him, ultimately they will lose. The hard way, the easy way, the long way, or the short way, they will lose,” he said.