The fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran has continued into its third week. There are signs of a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz looming on the horizon. These are the major takeaways from what happened overnight.
What did Trump say?
President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the US would “help free up” ships stranded in the Strait of Hormuz within hours. No details were provided.
“This process, Project Freedom, will begin Monday morning, Middle East time,” Trump said in a social media post, describing it as “a Humanitarian gesture” at the request of countries “neutral and innocent” to the conflict.
“If, in any way, this Humanitarian process is interfered with, that interference will, unfortunately, have to be dealt with forcefully,” he added.
US Navy ships will provide commercial vessels with information on the best maritime lanes in the strait and will remain nearby in case they need to prevent Iran’s military from attacking commercial ships, the US media Axios said.
In an apparent response, Ebrahim Azizi, the head of the Iranian parliament’s national security commission, warned on social media that “Any American interference in the new maritime regime of the Strait of Hormuz will be considered a violation of the ceasefire”.
“The Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf would not be managed by Trump’s delusional posts!” he added.
US Central Command (Centcom) confirmed that its forces would begin supporting Project Freedom on Monday.
“US military support to Project Freedom will include guided-missile destroyers, over 100 land and sea-based aircraft, multi-domain unmanned platforms, and 15,000 service members,” according to a Centcom statement issued on Sunday.
