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Updated May 6, 2026 — 9:08am,first published 8:31am
Washington: US President Donald Trump has “paused” his bid to guide ships through the Strait of Hormuz using the US Navy after less than 48 hours, saying it may assist in agreeing a peace deal with Iran to end the nine-week-old war.
Just hours after his Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a news conference at the White House advocating the mission, Trump said it would be halted “for a short period of time to see whether or not the agreement can be finalised and signed”.
The US would continue a naval blockade of the strait targeting ships entering or departing Iranian ports, Trump said.
“Project Freedom”, whereby US guided-missile destroyers were to guide – but not escort – commercial vessels through the strait, was announced by Trump on Sunday (US time).
Earlier on Tuesday, Rubio pledged US forces were now focused on reopening the critical Strait of Hormuz as a “favour to the world”.
Rubio said 10 civilian sailors had died because their ships had been effectively stranded in the Persian Gulf since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran nine weeks ago and the Iranian regime retaliated by attacking passing ships with drones, and threatening to lay mines.
Crews on board faced a shortage of food and potable water, and were at the mercy of Iran’s “piracy”, Rubio said. “These are innocent bystanders [who are] caught in the middle of it and being held hostage.”
At least two vessels, both US-flagged, have exited the strait safely after being guided by the US Navy. However, shipping companies and insurers remain nervous about sending their vessels through the waterway – especially in light of a flare-up on Monday that included a hit on a South Korean ship.
Rubio acknowledged other countries were “really suffering, big time” due to the spike in oil prices caused by the strait’s defacto closure, and said the US was trying to reopen the strait as a favour to the rest of the world.
Australia is one such country. With dwindling supplies, the Albanese government has been forced to find fuel elsewhere through deals with countries such as Singapore.
Rubio also offered a more definitive statement about the status of the war, declaring that Operation Epic Fury was “over”. He noted President Donald Trump had already told Congress that combat operations in Iran were “terminated” amid the ongoing ceasefire that began on April 7.
“Operation Epic Fury is concluded. We achieved the objectives of that operation,” he said. “We’re done with that stage of it. We’re now on to this project of freedom.”
Both Trump and Rubio left the door open to launching further military action against Iran, although Rubio said the administration was not cheering for that outcome.
Rubio said Trump’s preference was still to negotiate a peace deal that would constrain Iran’s nuclear ambitions and deal with hundreds of kilograms of highly enriched uranium still believed to be in the country, buried under rubble.
However, he was frank about what he saw as the shortcomings of Iran’s leaders, quoting from a hit by hip-hop group Cypress Hill.
“The time has come for Iran to make a sensible choice. It’s not easy for them to do that because they have a fracture in their own leadership system,” Rubio said. “The top people in that government are, to say the least – they’re insane in the brain.”
Later, he drew on rapper Ice Cube’s 1992 hit Check Yo Self, saying Iran was facing economic catastrophe due in part to the US naval blockade, and “they should check themselves before they wreck themselves”.
Rubio, who was speaking to reporters from the White House in place of Trump’s spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, who is on maternity leave, said the US was the only military force capable of undertaking Project Freedom, the name it has given to its attempt to reopen the strait. He gave no indication of an expiry date on the mission.
But at an earlier news conference, Hegseth stressed the mission was temporary, and the US would “soon” step away from the strait.
“The world needs this waterway a lot more than we do,” Hegseth said. “We’re stabilising the situation so that commerce can flow again, but we expect the world to step up. At the appropriate time, and soon, we will hand responsibility back to you.”
Hegseth and the country’s top general, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Dan Caine, did not accuse Iran of violating the ceasefire by firing a limited number of missiles and drones towards the United Arab Emirates on Monday, the first day of Project Freedom.
The UAE’s Ministry of Defence said on Tuesday (Dubai time) that it was still confronting missiles and drones originating from Iran, which were being intercepted by the country’s air defence systems. It did not provide further details.
An oil terminal part-owned by Australia’s IFM Investors was reportedly hit in Monday’s attacks in the port city Fujairah. Operator VTTI declined to comment and referred questions to port authorities.
