A day after announcing a pause in the military’s new operation to clear a path for commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, halting a mission that had just begun, President Donald Trump threatened Wednesday that if Iran did not agree to his latest peace plan, U.S. bombing would resume “at a much higher level.”
Trump said that Iran had already agreed to at least parts of the U.S. proposal as the two governments have continued to exchange documents via Pakistani mediators in recent days.
In Tehran, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said his government was still reviewing the U.S. “framework” transmitted Sunday in reply to Iran’s latest 14-point plan. “Once our positions are finalized,” he said in an interview with the semiofficial news agency ISNA, “they will be communicated to the Pakistani side.”
Tehran had earlier rejected U.S. assertions that it had already agreed to concessions on the dismantling and future restrictions on its nuclear program. It said its proposal dealt only with the Strait of Hormuz, where more than 1,500 commercial ships are still waiting to get through Iran’s closure of the critical waterway.
There were “absolutely no details regarding the country’s nuclear issues in this proposal,” Baghaei said Sunday as Iran began its review of the U.S. response. Iran had proposed nuclear discussions be postponed to a later date after the war was over.
In a rapid chain of events, it was unclear which side was responding — or not responding — to what. Even as the latest U.S. missive was dispatched to Tehran, Trump announced on social media late Sunday that he was launching “Project Freedom” in which U.S. naval vessels would “guide” commercial vessels through the strait.
On Tuesday, he said he was pausing the hours-old U.S. military operation “to see whether or not the [peace] agreement can be finalized and signed.”
That announcement, in which Trump hailed “Great Progress” toward a peace deal, sent global stocks surging and oil prices falling Wednesday. S&P 500 futures were up nearly 1 percent in the early morning, with gains in major European and Asian indexes as well. The price of Brent crude oil, the global benchmark, was down about 9 percent to just under $100 per barrel.
Trump said the pause had come “at the request of Pakistan and other countries.”
Both sides have prevented traffic through the strait. Iran has claimed complete control over the waterway, preventing traffic, laying mines and charging tolls for passage, while the U.S. Navy has blockaded any ships trying to reach or depart from Iranian ports.
For the brief duration that Project Freedom was in effect, both sides exchanged fire over the strait. French firm CMA CGM confirmed Wednesday that one of its vessels, the San Antonio, was attacked while transiting the shipping route a day earlier, resulting in injuries to crew members and damage to the vessel. “The injured crew members have been evacuated and are provided with the necessary medical care,” it said in a statement to The Washington Post.
A spokesperson for U.S. Central Command, which is responsible for the transit clearing and the ongoing blockade, referred questions on the pause back to the White House.
Trump’s announced paused in the clearing operation followed two news conferences Tuesday, one at the Pentagon and one at the White House, where senior administration officials touted its effectiveness and strived to convince reporters that the mission was working — despite Iran firing missiles and drones at U.S. ships in the initial day of transit clearing and the U.S. destroying at least six Iranian fast boats in return.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, addressing reporters from the White House, said the administration had moved past Operation Epic Fury, the Trump administration’s name for the war with Iran. The White House has argued that the April ceasefire ended the operation short of the 60-day deadline set under the War Powers Resolution, the law that aims to constrain a president’s military powers.
“We’re done with that stage of it,” Rubio said. “Okay, we’re now on to this project of freedom.”
Earlier Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the U.S. mission to protect commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz would be temporary and that other nations would soon have to take responsibility. He also emphasized that the fragile ceasefire with Iran remained in place despite this week’s ship attacks.
Speaking at the Pentagon alongside Hegseth, Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that since the ceasefire was announced, Iran has fired at commercial vessels nine times, seized two, and attacked U.S. forces more than 10 times, Caine said — “all below the threshold of restarting major combat operations, at this point.”
The defense secretary and general spoke to reporters just days after a deadline passed that by law required the White House to seek Congress’s authorization to continue to carry out Operation Epic Fury strikes in Iran after 60 days of operations. Hegseth said that 60-day deadline did not apply because of the ceasefire.
“With the ceasefire, the clock stops,” he said. Democrats in Congress have contested the legality of that position. It was not clear whether Trump’s Wednesday threat to restart the war would restart the same clock, or violate the deadline.
Despite Trump’s claims to have “already won” the war, Tehran believes that it can outlast his tolerance for high energy prices and political criticism. “We know full well that the continuation of the status quo is intolerable for America; while we have not even begun yet,” Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a post on X Tuesday.
On Monday, as the short-lived protection mission began, the U.S. said two of its destroyers, closely followed by two merchant vessels, came under attack during successful transits of the strait, which has remained effectively blocked to maritime traffic during the war.
Iran fired cruise missiles and drones at the U.S. naval and commercial vessels and sent fast boats after commercial ships, said Adm. Brad Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command.
Elsewhere in the region, the United Arab Emirates reported an Iranian assault on an energy hub that caused a fire, while Oman’s state media reported an attack in the country but did not identify a perpetrator.
At the United Nations Wednesday, UAE Ambassador Mohamed Abushahab called on the Security Council to take a firmer stand against Iran or lose all credibility.
“These are not the actions of a state seeking stability,” he said of the new Iranian attacks in his country, “they are the action of regime escalation over diplomacy and coercion over peace.” Abushahab spoke as the council moved into a closed session to discuss the latest events in the region.
The U.S., along with Persian Gulf nations, has circulated a draft resolution among council members demanding that Iran cease all attacks, mining and tolls in the strait and calling on all nations to aid the effort to restrain it.
While it expresses support for ongoing peace efforts, the draft makes no mention of the U.S. naval blockade. The U.S. mission at the U.N. did not respond to requests for comment on when the resolution would be introduced for a vote or whether breaking events had overtaken it.
Cooper insisted the U.S. had the upper hand and sought to differentiate U.S. actions from those of Iran. “The distinction from my perspective is crystal clear,” he said. “My operational assessment overall is that the U.S. military has the clear advantage.”
Cat Zakrzewski contributed to this report.
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