U.S. President Donald Trump announced a temporary suspension of "Project Freedom," a U.S. military operation to help vessels stranded in the Strait of Hormuz escape, citing progress in ceasefire negotiations with Iran.
"The total maritime blockade will remain in place, but Project Freedom will be paused for a short period to see whether an agreement can be finalized and signed," Trump posted Wednesday on his social media platform Truth Social. The United States had launched Project Freedom on Tuesday but suspended it just one day later.
Explaining the rationale behind the pause, Trump said, "We took into account that significant progress is being made toward a complete and final agreement with Iranian representatives," adding that "there were requests from Pakistan, the mediating country, and several other nations." Trump had previously rejected Iran's proposed ceasefire terms as "unsatisfactory," marking an abrupt shift in his stance. He did not, however, specify what the progress entailed.
Meeting with reporters the same day, Trump also signaled that "the Iran issue will be on the agenda at the upcoming summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping."
Iran has also resumed diplomatic efforts through mediating countries. China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported Thursday that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited China and held talks in Beijing with Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China's Central Committee and foreign minister.
Despite these moves, military tensions in the Middle East remain high. Bloomberg reported Wednesday that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) activated its air defense systems against Iranian-origin ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones that day, and had intercepted most of roughly 20 Iranian-origin projectiles the previous day. The UAE Foreign Ministry characterized Iran's projectile attacks as a "significant escalation of tensions" and said it reserves the right to respond appropriately. Iran, however, denied responsibility for the attacks.
In the Persian Gulf near the Strait of Hormuz, a French-flagged vessel was struck, injuring crew members. CBS reported that "a French-flagged cargo ship in the Persian Gulf was struck by what is believed to be a land-attack cruise missile, injuring several crew members," adding that "the vessel hit was the CGM San Antonio, which was near Dubai." The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it had received a report that "a cargo ship was hit by an unidentified projectile." The vessel's subsequent movements could not be confirmed. UKMTO reported that since Monday, multiple vessel-related incidents had occurred in the Persian Gulf, including fires, projectile strikes and small-boat attacks.
The Iranian regime, caught between diplomacy and military action, has also shown inconsistent positions on the war internally. While Iran's Foreign Ministry said "channels of communication remain open regarding ceasefire negotiations," Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said, "It is contradictory for the United States to maintain a pressure policy while simultaneously demanding negotiations, and we cannot yield to American demands."
Some international affairs experts have pointed out that Project Freedom itself had limited momentum from the start. The project excluded active military defense, leaving U.S. allies still exposed to military threats.
