Trump Pauses Project Freedom as Iran Deal Talks Advance

Donald Trump paused Project Freedom on Tuesday night, just one day after it began, saying he wanted to see whether an agreement with Iran could be finalized and signed. He described the diplomatic opening as “Great Progress” toward a “Complete and Final Agreement” and said Pakistan and other countries had asked for the pause.

The move left the blockade on Iranian ports in place, signaling that Washington was not backing away from pressure even as it slowed the military effort to protect shipping. That split-screen, force on the water and talks at the table, defined the administration’s latest response to the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, where the conflict had choked off a critical route for global oil and commercial traffic.

Project Freedom was built to push stranded ships through the strait safely. U.S. Central Command said the mission would bring guided-missile destroyers, more than 100 land- and sea-based aircraft, multi-domain unmanned platforms and 15,000 service members to the operation. The U.S. military also said two U.S. merchant ships had already transited the strait with destroyer support, a sign that the escort mission had begun to reopen a route many carriers had been avoiding.

The stakes were steep. The Strait of Hormuz is a vital energy-trade chokepoint, and nearly 23,000 sailors aboard vessels representing 87 countries had been stranded in the Persian Gulf after Iran’s de facto closure of the waterway. Shipping companies remained cautious about sending vessels through until the fighting stopped, underscoring how fragile any reopening would be.

The escalation that triggered the deployment continued to unfold even as Trump reached for diplomacy. Fresh attacks in the Gulf included missile, drone and small-boat actions, and the United Arab Emirates said Iranian strikes with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones injured three people. U.S. forces also struck six small Iranian military boats in the widening confrontation.

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, said peace talks were moving ahead with Pakistan’s mediation and warned against a “quagmire.” The White House has said its Iran policy is to deny Tehran a nuclear weapon and restore maximum pressure, a reminder that the administration is trying to balance negotiation with leverage. For now, Trump has chosen to pause the escort mission without lifting the blockade, keeping the military threat intact while testing whether diplomacy can still produce a deal.