President Donald Trump said he was pausing the military’s new operation to clear a transit path through the Strait of Hormuz for commercial vessels, halting a mission that had only just begun, even as more than 1,500 commercial ships are still waiting to get through Iran’s closure of the critical waterway.
Global stocks jumped and oil prices fell Wednesday in reaction to Trump’s statement, in which he hailed “Great Progress” toward a peace deal. 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 comes “at the request of Pakistan and other countries,” and means that U.S. military operations, including using warships to clear a path through the strait, will be halted “for a short period of time to see whether or not the [peace] agreement can be finalized and signed,” Trump wrote on social media.
In the immediate term, that means that while the U.S. Navy’s interdictions of ships that have entered Iranian ports will continue, the air- and sea-based operations to clear the strait for commercial vessels are now on hold, Trump said. Both sides have exchanged fire in the past day over the strait.
On Wednesday morning, Trump followed up with another post, saying that the war and the U.S. blockade could end if Iran agrees to “what has been agreed to.” If not, “the bombing starts,” he said, “and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before.”
In one of the latest attacks on commercial ships, French firm CMA CGM confirmed Wednesday that one of its vessels, the San Antonio, was attacked while transiting the strait 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 announcement followed two news conferences Tuesday, one at the Pentagon and one at the White House, where the administration touted the effectiveness of the new military operation and strived to convince reporters that the new mission, dubbed “Project Freedom,” 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 it ended the operation in April, short of the 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,” he 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 the ship attacks.
Speaking at a briefing alongside Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Hegseth said the United States had established a powerful “red, white and blue dome” over the strait as a “direct gift” to other nations to allow commercial ships to pass through.
“This operation is separate and distinct from Operation Epic Fury,” he said.
He described the effort to help commercial ships navigate the narrow strait as a “temporary mission” for U.S. forces. “We expect the world to step up at the appropriate time, and soon we will hand responsibility back to you,” he said.
Caine said that more than 22,500 mariners on more than 1,550 commercial ships are waiting to transit the strait and that Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the region, had established an “enhanced security area” on the southern side of the strait protected by U.S. forces.
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 “ceasefire is not over,” Hegseth said.
Trump, speaking later at the White House, declined to say what Iranian actions would constitute a ceasefire violation.
“Well, you’ll find out because I’ll let you know,” Trump said.
Trump, as he has in recent days, sought to downplay the significance of the unresolved conflict.
“You know, we had an all-time-high stock market today, despite that word, a little skirmish military,” Trump said. “I call it a skirmish because Iran has no chance.”
Caine and Hegseth said that the fast boats Iran used to try to attack the vessels were only using small arms, rifles or machine guns, but that Iran also fired small coastal cruise missiles, which did not hit the ships.
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 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.
Iranian officials on Tuesday accused the U.S. of violating the ceasefire and warned of it becoming bogged down in the war, now in its third month. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a post on X that events in the strait “make clear that there’s no military solution to a political crisis,” adding that the U.S. should be “wary of being dragged back into quagmire.”
“Project Freedom is Project Deadlock,” he said.
Iranian Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said a “new equation” in the strait is “in the process of being solidified” in a post on X on Tuesday. “We know full well that the continuation of the status quo is intolerable for America; while we have not even begun yet,” he added.
On Monday, 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.
South Korea said it was also investigating the cause of a fire in a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz, after Trump said Iran was to blame.
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.”
Trump also sought to assert U.S. military dominance following Monday’s attacks, saying that “one way or the other, we win” in comments to conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. “We either make the right deal, or we win very easily from the military standpoint. We’ve already won that,” he said. The president also said the U.S. had “knocked out” Iran’s leadership teams since the war began. “They talk a lot differently when they’re talking to me than they talk when they’re talking to the media,” he said.
It remains unclear whether Trump’s pause of the nascent project will help spur peace talks, which broke down in recent weeks.
Iran has repeatedly warned against U.S. intervention in the Strait of Hormuz, and negotiations to open the narrow choke point through which 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas supplies flow have formed a central plank of discussions between the U.S. and Iran since they agreed to a ceasefire on April 7, which largely halted the fighting.
Despite exchanging proposals and holding face-to-face talks, the two sides still face key sticking points that threaten both the ceasefire and the prospect of a more lasting peace.
Cat Zakrzewski contributed to this report.
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