President Trump paused “Project Freedom” on Tuesday evening just 36 hours after launching it, telling reporters the US would halt its effort to guide stranded ships through the Strait of Hormuz to give space for a deal to end the Iran war.
The naval blockade of Iranian ports remains in place.
The pause came after Iran fired cruise missiles, drones and small boat attacks at US-protected commercial shipping on Monday, with American forces sinking six Iranian boats.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi flew straight from Moscow to Beijing on Wednesday morning for his first wartime meeting with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and General Dan Caine all insisted at the Pentagon that combat operations had not crossed the threshold of “major combat operations”.
The retreat is striking.
Russian Strikes Kill 22 Hours Before Putin’s “Truce”
Russian missile and drone strikes killed at least 22 people across Ukraine on Tuesday, just hours before Vladimir Putin’s unilateral two-day Victory Day “ceasefire” was
6 May 2026
