President Trump said on Sunday that the United States would launch a new effort to help guide stranded ships out of the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively closed.
Mr. Trump said the initiative, called Project Freedom, would begin on Monday morning “Middle East time,” after his administration heard from nations seeking help freeing their ships. He warned that any interference in the program would be dealt with “forcefully,” but offered few details about how it would work.
“These are Ships from areas of the World that are not in any way involved with that which is currently taking place in the Middle East,” Mr. Trump said in a lengthy social media post.
Mr. Trump’s announcement was essentially a challenge to Iran, and a bet that it would not want to take the risk of firing the first shots — or laying mines — in a challenge to the U.S. Navy. He said nothing about lifting the American blockade on all shipping in and out of Iranian ports.
If the move works, it could flip the script on the current dual blockades — one run by the Iranians, the other by the United States. But it could also lead to a breach in the current cease-fire if Iran sought to try to intercept shipping or challenge the American effort.
Mr. Trump did not make clear in his post what it meant for the United States to “guide” ships and how that differed from escorting them.
The president’s announcement comes at a moment when Iran has just made a new proposal to the United States to end the war, but one that Mr. Trump told reporters over the weekend was probably insufficient.
In the post on Sunday, Mr. Trump said the negotiations were still ongoing and “could lead to something very positive for all.”
Mr. Trump’s gamble here is also that he can re-establish the status quo before the war broke out on Feb. 28, when cargo ships carrying oil, fertilizer, helium for semiconductor production and other goods did not pay a toll imposed by the Iranians. Some of those tolls have reportedly run as high as $2 million a ship.
If successful, it would also be a subtle dig at Europeans, who have been organizing a joint effort to keep the gulf open, but only after a cessation of hostilities. Mr. Trump has noted, with some sarcasm, that the Europeans are interested in intervening only after the need for confronting Iran is over.
But there are risks, as well. It is not clear that all mines in the strait have been removed. And even if Tehran decides not to challenge the new U.S. effort, it is possible that an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps unit, or even an individual on the Iranian side, may not get the message and could open fire, from land or from a small speedboat.
Source:
www.nytimes.com
