The Trump administration has declared the offensive against Iran over and paused its ambitious mission to free ships stuck in the Gulf in a dramatic turnaround over a 48-hour period.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, told reporters at the White House late on Tuesday that Operation Epic Fury is “over” and that the military phase of the war had ended.
Mr Rubio said that the conflict’s new phase, dubbed ‘Project Freedom’, was working to save some 23,000 civilians from 87 countries stranded in the Gulf, insisting this was a purely defensive operation.
But in an abrupt pivot, the President said late on Tuesday that the initiative would also be placed on hold “by mutual agreement” to allow for productive talks aimed at ending the war.
The Independent looks at how a chaotic 48 hours unfolded in the White House.
Renewed talk of diplomacy comes just days after Donald Trump unveiled the Project Freedom initiative, framed as a defensive mission to guide foreign ships out of the Strait of Hormuz and safeguard international trade.
The strait is a vital waterway for global supplies of oil, fertiliser and other commodities that has been virtually closed since the US and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February, causing global price rises.
The president said the operation was a “humanitarian effort to rescue ships running low on essentials after more than two months trapped in the Persian Gulf”.
By the end of its first day, on Monday, the US military said it had escorted two ships through the Strait of Hormuz. But Iran also claimed to have fired warning shots at a US ship, commercial ships reported incoming fire, and a key oil port in the UAE was struck by Iran, according to reports.
In a briefing on the war to reporters, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth tried to frame Monday’s clashes as natural “churn”, while warning that the US still has the capability to reopen the wider conflict if needed.
“The option is always there, and Iran knows that. And that’s why their choices in Project Freedom are important,” he said, casting the mission as a “gift” to the rest of the world while also downplaying the US’s need for the waterway.
The UAE accused Iran of more missile and drone attacks on Tuesday as the Trump administration tried to play down attacks in the region.
But after a day of careful positioning from his senior officials, Trump wrote on Truth Social that the operation to rescue commercial shipping “will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed”.
It was unclear whether any talks with Iran had been formally agreed or scheduled.
