Two unnamed U.S. officials told NBC News on Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s “Project Freedom” — the plan for American military forces to safely escort commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz — was “paused” after less than 48 hours because Saudi Arabia denied the use of its airbases to protect ships from attacks by Iran.
According to NBC’s sources, the Saudi government was “surprised” and “angered” when Trump announced Project Freedom with a Truth Social post on Sunday afternoon.
Trump said he was acting in response to requests from “countries from all over the world” who were “neutral and innocent bystanders” to the conflict between the U.S. and Iran.
“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 freel and ably get on with their business,” the president wrote.
Trump dubbed the initiative “Project Freedom” and said it would begin on Monday, only a few hours after he wrote his Truth Social post. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said it was ready to support the effort immediately, as part of America’s commitment to freedom of navigation.
“Our support for this defensive mission is essential to regional security and the global economy as we also maintain the naval blockade,” CENTCOM commander Adm. Bradley Cooper said on Sunday.
CENTCOM’s statement suggested Project Freedom was an extension of an initiative announced by the Department of War the previous week to “enhance coordination and information-sharing among international partners in support of maritime security in the strait.”
“Project Freedom is defensive in nature, focused in scope, temporary in duration [and] with one mission: protecting innocent commercial shipping from Iranian aggression,” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said on Monday, announcing that two ships had already passed through the Strait of Hormuz under the protection of U.S. destroyers.
Hegseth said Iran “cannot be allowed to block innocent countries and their goods from an international waterway.”
“Iran is the clear aggressor, harassing civilian vessels, threatening mariners from every nation indiscriminately, and weaponizing a critical choke point for its own financial benefit,” he said.
On Tuesday, Hegseth praised the success of Project Freedom at a Pentagon press conference, and said “hundreds more ships from nations around the world are lining up to transit.”
“As a direct gift from the United States to the world, we have established a powerful red, white and blue dome over the strait,” he said.
“American destroyers are on station, supported by hundreds of fighter jets, helicopters, drones and surveillance aircraft providing 24/7 overwatch for peaceful commercial vessels — except Iran’s, of course,” he said.
Later on Tuesday, President Trump suddenly announced a “pause” to Project Freedom, ostensibly at the request of Pakistan, which has been mediating talks between the U.S. and Iran.
Trump said the pause was “mutually agreed” to and justified by “the fact that Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran.”
According to NBC’s sources, the real reason for the pause was that Saudi Arabia indignantly informed the U.S. that its Prince Sultan Airbase could not be used to support Project Freedom, and U.S. military aircraft would not be allowed to fly through its airspace to participate in the effort. This would have removed the air support Hegseth described as integral to the operation.
The U.S. officials allegedly said Trump placed a call to Saudi Arabia’s de facto chief executive, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), but it “did not resolve the issue.”
“Other close Gulf allies were also caught off guard; the president spoke with leaders in Qatar after the effort had already begun,” NBC reported.
The White House responded to the NBC report by insisting that “regional allies were notified in advance,” while an unnamed “Middle Eastern diplomat” said that at least some of them were not, including Oman, which is on the far side of the Strait of Hormuz from Iran.
“The U.S. made an announcement and then coordinated with us,” the diplomat said, adding that at least in the case of the Omanis, they were “not upset or angry” about it.
A Saudi source also disputed the characterization of Saudi Arabia as angered by the timing of Trump’s announcement.
“The problem with that premise is that things are happening quickly in real time,” the source said, suggesting the Saudis were more understanding of the situation than the original report implied.
Another theory about the abrupt suspension of Project Freedom is that Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf states were made nervous by the Trump administration’s low-key response to the latest wave of Iranian attacks against the United Arab Emirates.
Former intelligence agent Aimen Dean said on Thursday that NBC News, or its sources, misunderstood the Saudis’ reservations about Project Freedom. They were not taken by surprise, because as Hegseth and CENTCOM noted on Sunday, the Gulf states have been working with the U.S. military on security solutions for the Strait of Hormuz. Instead, the Gulf states were worried that the U.S. might not protect them against Iranian retaliation, because the U.S. is focused on making a deal with Iran.
“You had attacks against Emirati infrastructure. Fujairah was targeted. Multiple waves involving drones, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles,” Dean wrote. “And Washington’s response was basically: ‘Meh. Minor incident. Let’s not escalate.’”
Dean was referring to Iran’s Monday missile and drone attack on the UAE’s Fujairah Oil Industry Zone, a major oil and cargo hub. The attack caused a fire to break out at the facility.
President Trump said on Monday that the Fujairah attack did not rise to the level of “heavy firing” that would constitute a ceasefire violation.
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