Trump says US will ‘help free up’ ships stuck in Hormuz Strait

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President Donald Trump has said that the United States will “help free up” ships stuck in the Strait of Hormuz starting on Monday, suggesting that his administration will break the Iranian blockade on the strategic waterway.

Trump said on Sunday that the push – dubbed Project Freedom – would be a “humanitarian gesture” at the request of countries “neutral” to the conflict whose vessels are stranded in the strait, and warned against interference with the operation.

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“For the good of Iran, the Middle East, and the United States, we have told these Countries that we will guide their Ships safely out of these restricted Waterways, so that they can freely and ably get on with their business,” the US president said, without specifying which countries called for Washington’s help.

It is unclear how the campaign will proceed or whether it will involve coordination with Tehran. If met with Iranian resistance, the move risks shattering the fragile ceasefire that came into effect in April.

“Many of these Ships are running low on food, and everything else necessary for largescale crews to stay on board in a healthy and sanitary manner,” the US president wrote in a social media post.

“I think it would go a long way in showing Goodwill on behalf of all of those who have been fighting so strenuously over the last number of months. If, in any way, this Humanitarian process is interfered with, that interference will, unfortunately, have to be dealt with forcefully.”

The US military has previously said that it is “not ready” to accompany vessels through the narrow waterway, where it could come under fire from Iranian territory.

‘Is this a negotiating tactic?’

Although the truce has held for more than three weeks, Tehran’s blockade in Hormuz and Washington’s naval siege on Iranian ports have sent oil prices soaring.

In the US, petrol has risen $4.44 per gallon, up from less than $3 before the war started, fuelling inflation. Energy costs are driving increasing public discontent with the war as Trump’s job approval ratings plummet, according to recent pubic opinion polls.

Trump had previously suggested that he is comfortable with the status quo of the competing blockades in the Gulf, arguing that the US siege was “more effective than bombing”.

However, the move to go against the Iranian blockade could alter the relative calm that persisted against growing tensions in the past weeks.

Negar Mortazavi, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, said the US effort to escort ships out of the strait will not be seen as a humanitarian mission by Iran.

“This is also going to bring US forces and assets closer to the shooting range of Iran, potentially, if it’s going to be an escort,” Mortazavi told Al Jazeera in a TV interview.

“So I don’t know if this is a threat. Is this a negotiating tactic?… Or is this really the plan of the president? I mean, we know, and Tehran has suspected also, that there would be a potential escalation in one form. I don’t know if this could be it.”

Trump suggested on Sunday that the path to a diplomatic resolution to the crisis remains open.

“I am fully aware that my Representatives are having very positive discussions with the Country of Iran, and that these discussions could lead to something very positive for all,” he said.

“The Ship movement is merely meant to free up people, companies, and Countries that have done absolutely nothing wrong — They are victims of circumstance.”

Trump says Iran’s plan unacceptable

Hours earlier, the US president said he had rejected Tehran’s latest 14-point proposal for ending the US-Israel war on Iran.

“It’s not acceptable to me. I’ve studied it; I’ve studied everything – it’s not acceptable,” Trump told Kan, Israel’s public broadcaster.

While details of the 14-point plan remain unclear, Iranian officials have said that Tehran is focused on permanently ending the war and lifting the blockade against its ports before talks to secure a broader nuclear deal.

Iranian officials said on Sunday that Tehran has received a formal response from Washington to its proposal, and is studying it.

The US president had also signalled earlier that he wants to inflict more damage on Iran before the war concludes.

“I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but can’t imagine that it would be acceptable in that they have not yet paid a big enough price for what they have done to Humanity, and the World, over the last 47 years,” he wrote on Saturday.

Iran has projected defiance in the face of Trump’s rhetoric, warning that it will defend itself against any attacks. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has said it is “fully prepared” to counter any “adventures or foolishness” from Washington.