- US halted Project Freedom due to Saudi and Kuwait denying base and airspace access
- Saudi Arabia lifted the ban after Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke
- The project aims to guide commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz with US support
When US President Donald Trump abruptly halted his 'Project Freedom' to guide commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, he said it was to smooth negotiations with Iran on requests from Pakistan and other countries. However, new developments indicate the project was shelved because the United States' Gulf allies, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, refused to allow American warplanes to use their bases or airspace in the operation.
The hurdle has now been lifted after the US president and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's de facto leader, resolved the issue in a phone call on Wednesday night, according to reports by The Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times. FOLLOW WAR UPDATES
This paves the way for the Trump administration to restart the operation to guide commercial ships with naval and air support. It isn't clear if and when that could happen, even though Pentagon officials, talking to WSJ, gave a timeline of as early as this week.
Why Saudi Refused Airspace
The caution --not denied by Riyadh -- underscores Saudi Arabia's desire for a permanent end to the US-Israel war on Iran, resulting in Tehran's aggression on its Gulf neighbours. Riyadh believes Trump's "Project Freedom" to be "unnecessarily escalatory and not well thought through", a source who was briefed on the matter told Financial Times.
Per the report, Saudi Arabia is frustrated with the American commander-in-chief's "erratic handling of the war", due to which Middle Eastern nations, especially the United Arab Emirates (UAE), have borne the brunt of Iran's retaliatory strikes.
Riyadh, a signatory to the Abraham Accords, has initially seen benefit in the US and Israel's aggression against the Islamic Republic. However, now the kingdom is concerned about Trump's unpredictability and lack of coherent goals.
Sources also told FT that Trump's threat to hit civilian infrastructure and destroy all of Iran's power plants worried Riyadh, as it would most likely elicit a more ferocious response from the Islamic regime. The Kingdom has now joined other Arab states in cautioning Trump against the war, urging Washington to pursue a diplomatic solution. It also supported Pakistan's efforts to mediate an agreement to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran's Response To Project Freedom
Soon after the US forces launched an effort to transit ships through Hormuz, Tehran responded by launching over a dozen airstrikes on the UAE, most of which were intercepted, but an oil facility in Fujairah was set ablaze, injuring three Indians working there.
Iranian forces also attacked three American naval ships and merchant vessels, which US forces intercepted. Drones and fast-attack boats were also sent after commercial ships. The Trump administration has said it shot down the drones and missiles and sank six small Iranian boats.
The aggression threatened the fragile month-long ceasefire between the two nations. Trump, however, tried to play it down, claiming it was not "heavy firing" but just a "love tap", and the truce remains in place.
