Nearly a week after U.S. President Donald Trump suddenly announced on May 3 that the U.S. would guide ships out of the Strait of Hormuz, two officials now tell NBC News that the move has angered Saudi officials.
Both U.S. officials said Saudi officials fear Trump’s surprise move could spark more Iranian attacks on Gulf allies and reignite the conflict.
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Reports suggested that Trump had offered to help the ships pass through the Strait of Hormuz without first informing his key allies in the Persian Gulf. In response, Riyadh informed Washington that it would not allow the US military to fly planes from Prince Sultan Air Base southeast of Riyadh or through Saudi airspace in support of the effort. As a result, the US president was forced to suspend the operation nearly 36 hours after it began and airspace was reopened, the officials added.
Saudi Arabia is in a stronger position than several other Gulf countries because it can continue to export oil without relying entirely on the Strait of Hormuz. Its 750-mile east-west pipeline connects the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea, allowing crude oil to bypass a strategic choke point. This gives the kingdom an alternative export route if the strait becomes closed or unsafe for commercial shipping.
Read also | Iran mandates a 40-point compliance form for all merchant vessels in Hormuz
What did American officials reveal?
The official noted that the way Project Freedom was to be carried out was risky and could trigger an escalation, adding that Washington’s Gulf allies could have suffered “catastrophic” strikes.
The official went on to say that in the past, such issues would have been resolved with a few phone calls, “but given the world we live in today, the rush to post things on social media puts a premium on things.”
According to one of the officials, the Trump administration is unlikely to revive Project Freedom anytime soon, as concerns about the Gulf allies remain.
Additionally, when officials from the Gulf and Saudi Arabia spoke to members of the Trump administration and the US military to express their concerns that the operation might be too risky and asked how Washington would respond to Iranian aggression towards the operation, the US made it clear that the main goal was a peace deal and that it was unlikely to respond to Iranian strikes on infrastructure in the region.
Read also | Inside ‘Project Freedom,’ Trump’s aborted effort to reopen the Persian Gulf
Project Freedom
Project Freedom, which was announced on May 3 in a social media post, was the Trump administration’s effort to jumpstart traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively closed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) since the US and Israel went to war against Tehran in late February. The operation came after Trump extended the ceasefire indefinitely as the two sides continued to work on a peace deal and an end to the war.
However, the project was put on hold shortly after. In a Truth Social post, Trump noted that Project Freedom would be “suspended for a short period of time to see if” an agreement to resolve the war “can be finalized and signed.”
Project Freedom temporarily provided military surveillance, firepower and personnel aboard commercial ships to help them safely navigate the Strait of Hormuz and out of the Persian Gulf while Iranian forces continued to threaten and attack vessels in the strategic waterway. Pentagon officials said the operation was separate from the bombing campaign launched on February 28, which was codenamed “Epic Fury”.
Iran’s reaction to Trump’s Project Freedom
A day after Trump announced the launch of the operation, Iran’s military warned the United States Navy to stay out of the Strait of Hormuz after the US president said Washington would “help free” ships stuck in the Persian Gulf, Al Jazeera reported on May 4.
Read also | The CIA says Tehran can withstand the barriers for months during Gulf clashes
Ali Abdollahi, head of Iran’s military’s unified command, said in a statement on Monday that US forces would be attacked if they entered the strait and that merchant ships and oil tankers should refrain from moving unless they coordinate with Iran.
Reaction to Trump’s Freedom Project
Shortly after Trump announced the operation, several allies in the Persian Gulf reached out to the Trump administration and expressed concern about the possibility of renewed conflict. A phone call between Trump and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman failed to resolve the issue, two US officials said, forcing the president to suspend Project Freedom to restore US military access to critical airspace.
NBC, citing a Middle Eastern diplomat, said Washington did not coordinate with the Omanis on Project Freedom until the US president did.
Kuwait expressed concern and also said it would revoke the US military’s use of its bases and airspace to support Project Freedom until Trump changed course.
However, according to White House officials, US allies in the Gulf were informed in advance of the start of the operation.
