US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would briefly pause an operation to help escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, citing progress toward a comprehensive agreement with Iran.
"We have mutually agreed that, while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom ... will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalised and signed," Trump wrote on social media.
There was no immediate reaction from Tehran, where it was very early on Wednesday morning. Only hours earlier, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was briefing reporters on the effort to escort stranded tankers through the strait.
The day before, the US military said it had destroyed several Iranian small boats, as well as cruise missiles and drones.
Rubio and other senior administration officials said Iran could not be allowed to control traffic through the strait.
"There's no shooting unless we're shot at first," Rubio told reporters at the White House, where he said the United States has achieved its objectives in its military campaign.
"Operation Epic Fury is concluded," Rubio said. "We're not cheering for an additional situation to occur."
STRAIT OF HORMUZ REMAINS VIRTUALLY SHUT
One of Trump's central objectives in launching military strikes against Iran was to ensure Tehran does not develop a nuclear weapon, something Tehran has denied seeking. However, Iran has not handed over more than 900 pounds of highly enriched uranium.
The Strait of Hormuz has also been virtually shut since the war began on February 28, triggering disruptions that have pushed up commodity prices around the world.
Iran effectively sealed off the strait, which handles one-fifth of the world's oil and gas supply, by threatening to deploy mines, drones, missiles and fast-attack craft. The United States has countered by blockading Iranian ports and mounting escorted transits for commercial vessels.
While Rubio was speaking, Britain's Maritime Trade Operations agency reported that a cargo vessel had been struck by a projectile in the strait. Further details of the incident were not immediately available. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said earlier on Tuesday that the US had successfully secured a path through the waterway and that hundreds of commercial ships were lining up to pass through. The four-week-old truce with Iran was not over, he added.
"Right now the ceasefire certainly holds, but we're going to be watching very, very closely," he said.
General Dan Caine, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Iranian attacks against US forces fell "below the threshold of restarting major combat operations at this point".
Asked what Iran would need to do to violate the ceasefire, Trump said: "They know what not to do."
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