President Trump announced Sunday that 15,000 U.S. service members will launch "Project Freedom" on Monday morning to guide hundreds of stranded vessels and some 20,000 seafarers out of the Iran-controlled Strait of Hormuz. The operation will deploy guided-missile destroyers and more than 100 aircraft in what Trump described as a humanitarian mission.
Trump said the U.S. will help "neutral and innocent" countries whose ships have been trapped in Persian Gulf waters since Iran effectively closed the strait after the U.S. and Israel launched their war on February 28. Many crew members are from India and other South and Southeast Asian countries, stuck on oil tankers and cargo ships running low on drinking water, food and supplies.
If, in any way, this Humanitarian process is interfered with, that interference will, unfortunately, have to be dealt with forcefully.
Iran Calls Move 'Delirium,' Threatens Response
Iran immediately denounced the operation as a ceasefire violation. Ebrahim Azizi, head of Iran's parliamentary national security commission, said any interference in the strait would breach the fragile three-week ceasefire. Iran's state-run IRNA news agency dismissed Trump's announcement as "delirium."
The rescue mission comes as Trump reviews Iran's latest peace proposal, with the president saying his representatives are having discussions with Tehran that could lead to something "very positive for all." Iran submitted a 14-point response to U.S. proposals and clarified these are not nuclear negotiations.
Iran's closure of the strait has shaken global energy markets and left seafarers describing intercepted drones and missiles exploding over the waters while their vessels drift without adequate supplies. Trump called the trapped crews "victims of circumstance" and framed the operation as a gesture "on behalf of the United States, Middle Eastern Countries but, in particular, the Country of Iran."
New Attacks Reported Near Strait
The announcement came hours after two new incidents near the waterway. A cargo ship reported being attacked by multiple small craft, while another vessel was struck by an "unknown projectile," according to the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center.
The Pentagon has not detailed how the 15,000 troops and naval assets will be deployed for the rescue operation. U.S. Central Command confirmed the mission's scale but left tactical questions unanswered about how American forces will navigate Iranian threats while extracting commercial vessels.
The operation tests whether Iran will risk escalating beyond the current ceasefire to prevent what Trump frames as humanitarian relief but Tehran sees as military interference in waters it considers under its control.
