US pauses ‘Project Freedom’ as Trump seeks way out of Hormuz impasse

{"text":[[{"start":9.45,"text":"Donald Trump hit pause on his plan to guide commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday just hours after the US president and top national security brass touted the benefits of the mission. "}],[{"start":20.35,"text":"Trump announced on Truth Social that “Project Freedom” would be “paused” one day after the mission began, marking the latest twist in his tortured efforts to reopen the strategic waterway for oil and gas trade. "}],[{"start":34.150000000000006,"text":"Oil prices fell following Trump’s announcement, with Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, down 1.2 per cent at $108.69 a barrel in London."}],[{"start":45.800000000000004,"text":"Joshua Tallis, an analyst at the Center for Naval Analyses, said the move appeared to be “a low-stakes way for the administration” to extend an olive branch to Tehran."}],[{"start":55.650000000000006,"text":"The about-face came as Trump appeared to be flailing in his effort to unblock the increasingly tense stalemate with Iran over the strait and struggling to contain the broader fallout from the war. "}],[{"start":67.5,"text":"The conflict has already taken longer than the White House initially predicted, damaging the president’s approval ratings as Americans balk at another war in the Middle East and surging petrol prices. "}],[{"start":78.75,"text":"Although a ceasefire was announced a month ago, the US has failed to reach a deal with Iran for a permanent settlement. "}],[{"start":85.35,"text":"“All they are doing now is sowing more chaos and confusion, and there’s no end in sight other than some kind of political solution, but the Trump team seems incapable of reaching that,” Chris Van Hollen, the Maryland Democratic senator, told the FT before the halt was announced. "}],[{"start":101.75,"text":"“My view is that when you’re digging a hole, you should just stop digging and get out,” he said. "}],[{"start":107.7,"text":"Trump explained the move to pause Project Freedom as a response to a request from Pakistan and other countries, in order to leave room for negotiations between Washington and Tehran. "}],[{"start":118.3,"text":"The president, on Truth Social, cited “Great Progress” in talks, and said the pause would last “a short period of time” to “see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed”."}],[{"start":130.7,"text":"But the US effort to give commercial ships safe passage through the strait, which started on Monday, was already facing doubts that it could ease a global energy crunch."}],[{"start":140.5,"text":"“It’s cul-de-sac, and I don’t see how he gets out of it,” said Aaron David Miller of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington think-tank. "}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":149.45,"text":"“Project Freedom is a half measure. It may well create a limited set of sea lanes for some shippers and insurers, but it by no means offers a way to free the tankers of varying sizes and capacities on the inside of the strait and . . . those on the outside,” he added. "}],[{"start":165.25,"text":"One former US Navy official said “the use of ships, aircraft and other capabilities did not deter Iran from attacks” and “adding more US or coalition forces to protect commercial shipping would not seem to decrease the risk to transiting the straits”. "}],[{"start":180.65,"text":"On the first day of the new mission, two American-flagged vessels and US warships transited the strait, according to the Pentagon. But an exchange of fire between US and Iranian forces underscored the perils of the mission."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":194.8,"text":"Mark Montgomery, a retired rear admiral in the US Navy, estimated that eventually 10 or 12 commercial ships would be able to pass daily, but that is far fewer than the 130 that made it through before the war. "}],[{"start":207.70000000000002,"text":"And Montgomery warned that traffic through the strait “certainly won’t” be fully restored as long as merchant ships are “uncomfortable”."}],[{"start":215.95000000000002,"text":"Hours before announcing the “pause” on Tuesday, Trump brushed aside these difficulties in an Oval Office event, claiming the US had “total control” over the strait. "}],[{"start":227.9,"text":"US defence secretary Pete Hegseth and General Dan Caine, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said Iran’s attacks did not amount to a break in the ceasefire between Washington and Tehran. Caine described them as “low harassing fire” that amounted to “grasping at straws”. "}],[{"start":243.8,"text":"However, Trump’s interventions have not managed to convince energy traders that oil shipments through the strait would resume. "}],[{"start":250.5,"text":"“Markets will react to persistent transits,” said retired Lieutenant General Karen Gibson, the former director of intelligence at Centcom. “Iran’s objective is to keep the strait commercially uninsurable to raise the perception of risk and keep the matter politically unresolved.” "}],[{"start":266.8,"text":"Liz Dent, former director for the Gulf and Arabian Peninsula in the office of the US secretary of defence, added that the US military has long had contingency plans for Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz, but the Trump administration appeared not to have taken this into account. "}],[{"start":283.15000000000003,"text":"“They’re all scrambling to figure out the best way to” open the strait, she said. “I also think there’s a fundamental misunderstanding of the leverage that the Iranians actually have . . . And if you continue to miscalculate what your enemy is doing or is going to do, you’re going to just keep making weird choices.” "}],[{"start":301.45000000000005,"text":"The announcement of the pause only exacerbates Trump’s dilemma. "}],[{"start":306.00000000000006,"text":"“If he settles for a narrow deal on the strait and postpone[s] the nuclear talks, the US gives up the leverage generated by blockading Iranian ports. If he holds out for a more comprehensive deal, the global economic damage continues. If he returns to bombardment, he has to bet that [it] will bring Iran back to the negotiating table in a more concessionary way,” said Richard Fontaine, president of the Center for a New American Security think-tank. “That’s the dilemma.”"}],[{"start":333.00000000000006,"text":"Retired Admiral James Foggo said that “I think everybody knows there’s no military solution here” and “people on both sides are now getting to the point where they recognise the fact that there has to be a diplomatic solution”."}],[{"start":351.80000000000007,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1778046428_2569.mp3"}