US President Donald Trump announced the temporary suspension of the “Operation Freedom” military deployment in the Strait of Hormuz. He stated that the pause was intended to allow for the potential negotiation of a peace agreement with Iran, a decision reportedly made at the request of Pakistan and several other nations.
Trump further reported that “major progress” had been made toward achieving a “complete and final agreement” with Tehran. However, he stressed that the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports remains in effect. According to the U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, the deployment is purely “defensive in nature” and was not part of any original war against Iran; they would only engage in fire if fired upon first.
The original objective of the mission was to escort vessels trapped in the strategically crucial strait due to the Iranian blockade. During the first day of operations, the U.S. military reported that at least six small Iranian boats were attacked and numerous drone and missile assaults were successfully thwarted. While Tehran denied these reports, Iranian media outlets subsequently reported rocket attacks targeting a U.S. military vessel, a claim that Washington refuted.