Donald Trump‘s plan to break the standoff with Iran over a shipping corridor that carries one-fifth of the world’s oil has left energy executives baffled, with Tehran’s attacks ongoing and traffic still at a near standstill.
Trump has privately told his closest advisers that he is frustrated by the ‘no deal, no war’ stalemate with Iran over control of the Strait of Hormuz.
The President’s messaging has left shipowners and oil executives confused by the lack of concrete details, while fears of further escalation from Iran remain a key concern, according to Bloomberg.
‘The President wants action. He doesn’t want to sit still. He wants pressure. He wants a deal,’ said a US official, according to a report from Axios.
The President on Thursday night reviewed plans to send US naval warship through the strait to open by force. Trump pulled out from the plan at the last minute and opted for a more cautious approach.
However, on Sunday night, Trump said the US would escort oil tankers trapped in the Persian Gulf, though he provided no further details.
US Central Command later confirmed the Navy would help commercial ships transit the Strait of Hormuz under an operation dubbed ‘Project Freedom,’ advising them on how to avoid mines and protecting them from Iranian attacks.
The uncertainty over control of the strait comes as two US-flagged vessels have successfully passed through waterway, the US military said on Monday.
Tehran, meanwhile, has continued launching drones at oil tankers and warned shipping magnates not to move through the waterway without the regime’s full approval. The closure of the strait has driven gas prices to some of their highest levels since 2022, averaging $4.40 a gallon, up 30 cents in a week.
Donald Trump’s plan to break the standoff with Iran over a shipping corridor that carries one-fifth of the world’s oil has left energy executives baffled
Tehran, meanwhile, has continued launching drones at oil tankers and warned shipping magnates not to move through the waterway without the regime’s full approval
Tankers are seen here anchored in the Strait off the coast of Qeshm Island in Iran last month
‘Project Freedom’ will reportedly include a vast number of guided-missile destroyers, drones, more than 100 land and sea-based aircraft, and the infantry support of 15,000 troops, CENTCOM announced.
Another US official told Axios that military officers have been authorized to strike immediate threats to naval assets, including Iran’s speedboats.
Iran has managed to effectively close off the Strait of Hormuz in recent months through a combination of small attack boats, drones, and sea mines laid in the narrow waterway.
US forces have also established an ‘enhanced security area’ that advises oil vessels to cross the waterway through Omani waters.
However, vessel traffic remains at a standstill, with most ships transiting Hormuz using the Iranian traffic separation scheme rather than Trump’s “Project Freedom” corridor closer to Oman.
These developments come as Iranian state media claims the regime fired a ‘warning shot’ at a US warship on Monday to stop it from entering the Strait of Hormuz.
State media had previously reported that the frigate was ‘targeted by a missile attack after ignoring a warning from the Iranian navy’ – a claim that CENTCOM promptly denied.
Writing on X, US Central Command said: ‘No US Navy ships have been struck. US forces are supporting Project Freedom and enforcing the naval blockade on Iranian ports.’
Iran has managed to effectively close off the Strait of Hormuz in recent months through a combination of small attack boats, drones, and sea mines laid in the narrow waterway
Ships and boats in the Strait of Hormuz, Musandam, Oman, May 4
A spokesperson for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) declared that any vessel violating the Islamic Republic’s maritime rules will be stopped by force, in a statement carried by the Fars News agency.
Iran’s navy issued a new map of the area of the Strait of Hormuz under its control on Monday.
The area starts in the west with a line between the westernmost tip of Iran’s Qeshm island to the United Arab Emirates’ Umm al Quwain emirate. In the east, the area stops at a line between Iran’s Mount Mobarak and the UAE’s Emirate of Fujairah.
