(Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would briefly pause an operation to help escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, citing progress toward a comprehensive agreement with Iran.
“We have mutually agreed that, while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom … will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed,” Trump wrote on social media.
There was no immediate reaction from Tehran, where it was very early on Wednesday morning.
Only hours earlier, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was briefing reporters on the effort to escort stranded tankers through the strait. The day before, the U.S. military said it had destroyed several Iranian small boats, as well as cruise missiles and drones.
Rubio and other senior administration officials said Iran could not be allowed to control traffic through the strait.
“There’s no shooting unless we’re shot at first,” Rubio told reporters at the White House, where he said the United States has achieved its objectives in its military campaign.
“Operation Epic Fury is concluded,” Rubio said. “We’re not cheering for an additional situation to occur.”
STRAIT OF HORMUZ REMAINS VIRTUALLY SHUT
One of Trump’s central objectives in launching military strikes against Iran was to ensure Tehran does not develop a nuclear weapon, something Tehran has denied seeking. However, Iran has not handed over more than 900 pounds of highly enriched uranium.
The Strait of Hormuz has also been virtually shut since the war began on February 28, triggering disruptions that have pushed up commodity prices around the world.
Iran effectively sealed off the strait, which handles one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas supply, by threatening to deploy mines, drones, missiles and fast-attack craft. The United States has countered by blockading Iranian ports and mounting escorted transits for commercial vessels.
While Rubio was speaking, Britain’s Maritime Trade Operations agency reported that a cargo vessel had been struck by a projectile in the strait. Further details of the incident were not immediately available.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said earlier on Tuesday that the U.S. had successfully secured a path through the waterway and that hundreds of commercial ships were lining up to pass through. The four-week-old truce with Iran was not over, he added.
“Right now the ceasefire certainly holds, but we’re going to be watching very, very closely,” he said.
General Dan Caine, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Iranian attacks against U.S. forces fell “below the threshold of restarting major combat operations at this point”.
Asked what Iran would need to do to violate the ceasefire, Trump said: “They know what not to do.”
‘RIGHT TO RESPOND’
Shortly after Hegseth spoke, the UAE’s defence ministry said its air defences were again dealing with missile and drone attacks coming from Iran, though Iran’s joint military command denied carrying out attacks.
The UAE’s foreign ministry said the attacks were a serious escalation and posed a direct threat to the country’s security, adding that the Gulf Arab state reserved its “full and legitimate right” to respond.
Iran’s foreign ministry rejected Abu Dhabi’s statements, saying its armed forces’ actions have been solely aimed at repelling American aggression.
After issuing a new map of the narrow strait with an expanded Iranian area of control, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned vessels to stick to the corridors they had set or face a “decisive response.”
The U.S. military said on Monday that two U.S. merchant ships made it through the strait, without saying when, while shipping company Maersk said the Alliance Fairfax, a U.S.-flagged ship, exited the Gulf under U.S. military escort on Monday.
Iran denied any crossings had taken place.
PAKISTAN’S MEDIATION EFFORTS CONTINUE
The war has killed thousands as it has spread beyond Iran to Lebanon and the Gulf, and roiled the global economy. The head of the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday that even if the conflict ended immediately, it would take three to four months to deal with the consequences.
Rubio said 10 civilian sailors were among those who had died in the ongoing conflict, adding that crew on vessels stranded in the waterway were “starving” and “isolated.”
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that Iran’s military had been reduced to firing “peashooters” and Tehran wanted peace, despite public sabre-rattling.
The conflict is also pressuring Trump’s administration ahead of crucial midterm elections in November, as rising gas prices hit voters’ pockets.
Trump has said the U.S.-Israeli attacks aimed to eliminate what he called imminent threats from Iran, citing its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes and its support for Hamas and Hezbollah.
Diplomatic efforts to end the conflict have yet to yield results. U.S. and Iranian officials have held one round of face-to-face peace talks, but attempts to set up further meetings have failed.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said peace talks were still progressing with Pakistan’s mediation.
He was travelling to Beijing on Tuesday for talks with his Chinese counterpart, his ministry said. Trump is also due to visit China this month.
