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President Donald Trump announced on May 3 that the United States will begin an effort to “guide” stranded ships out of the Strait of Hormuz.
The strategic strait — a choke point for around 20 percent of global oil and liquefied natural gas — has been under de facto Iranian control since the start of the American-Israeli war more than a month ago. Amid the ceasefire, the U.S. imposed a blockade on the ports of the Islamic Republic in an attempt to force Tehran into reopening the waterway, but the move only further complicated the situation.
In a post to Truth Social, Trump said that countries have reached out to the U.S. requesting assistance in securing the safe passage of their ships currently “locked up” in the strait.
“They are merely neutral and innocent bystanders! For the good of Iran, the Middle East, and the United States, we have told these countries that we will guide their ships safely out of these restricted waterways,” Trump wrote
“This process, Project Freedom, will begin Monday morning, Middle East time,” he added.
Trump went on to assert that his aides are having “positive discussions” with Iran, which “could lead to something very positive for all.”
“This is a Humanitarian gesture,” he said. “Many of these ships are running low on food, and everything else necessary for largescale crews to stay on board in a healthy and sanitary manner.”
He added: “If, in any way, this humanitarian process is interfered with, that interference will, unfortunately, have to be dealt with forcefully.”
The very next day, the Joint Maritime Information Center revealed that the U.S. has set up an “enhanced security area” south of typical shipping routes and urged mariners to coordinate closely with Omani authorities “due to anticipated high traffic volume.”
The center warned that passing close to the usual routes, known as the traffic separation scheme, “should be considered extremely hazardous due to the presence of mines that have not been fully surveyed and mitigated.”
Soon after, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced it will be launching “Project Freedom” to restore freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.
The command said in a statement that the mission “will support merchant vessels seeking to freely transit through the essential international trade corridor.”
“Our support for this defensive mission is essential to regional security and the global economy as we also maintain the naval blockade,” said CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper in the statement, pointing out that a quarter of the world’s oil trade at sea and significant volumes of fuel and fertilizer products are transported through Hormuz.
Within an hour of CENTCOM announcement, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations reported that a tanker had been hit by unknown projectiles while transiting about 78 nautical miles north of the city of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. All crew are reported safe, the organization said in an advisory notice.
Following the attack, Iran’s unified military command warned U.S. Navy warships against entering the Strait of Hormuz.
“We have repeatedly said the security of the Strait of Hormuz is in our hands and that the safe passage of vessels needs to be coordinated with the armed forces,” the command said in a statement.
However, Axios reporter Barak Ravid said on X that U.S. Navy warships will be “in the vicinity” in the event they need to prevent Iran’s military from attacking commercial ships moving through the Strait of Hormuz. This was also reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Even if the warships were to intervene, they will not likely be able to prevent Iran from targeting these ships, as evident by the latest attack near the UAE.
All in all, Project Freedom appears to be more a publicity move by the Trump administration meant to assure global energy markets at the start of the week. The plan is unlikely to help open the Strait of Hormuz. In fact, any attempt to use force by the U.S. Navy could easily respark the war.
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