President Donald Trump on Friday threatened that he would up the ante on Project Freedom, the administration’s plan for the U.S. Navy to escort vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, if Iran does not agree to a ceasefire deal.
The comments come one day after Iran and the United States exchanged fire in the strait and the president suggested the world would see “one big glow” coming from Iran if it did not agree to a deal as the war passes its three-month mark.
Speaking to reporters before boarding Marine One, Trump proposed alternate plans to get vessels out of the strategic waterway that has been effectively shut down by Iran since the start of the war.
“We’ll go a different route if everything doesn’t get signed up, buttoned up,” he said. “We may go back to Project Freedom if things don’t happen, but it’ll be Project Freedom Plus, meaning Project Freedom plus other things.”
“Project Freedom Plus” suggests that Trump may give the green light on strikes to Iran’s energy infrastructure, a threat he touted more than once as the war has dragged out.
Trump had paused Project Freedom at the request of Pakistan, which is mediating peace negotiations, in order to allow Iran to agree to a deal. The U.S. naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has remained in effect. He has previously ruled out the use of a nuclear weapon.
U.S. and Iranian forces exchanged fire on Thursday after Iran fired on three U.S. Navy vessels in the strait in what U.S. Central Command called an unprovoked attack. U.S. forces returned fire, but Trump and White House officials have been adamant that a ceasefire remains in place.
Iranian forces launched missiles, drones, and small boats at the USS Truxtun, USS Rafael Peralta, and USS Mason, which were transiting from the strait to the Gulf of Oman at the time, according to CENTCOM.
TRUMP SAYS WORLD WILL SEE ‘ONE BIG GLOW’ FROM IRAN IF DEAL NOT REACHED
American forces responded by targeting military facilities, including missile and drone launch sites, command and control locations, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance nodes, which CENTCOM said were responsible for the initial attacks.
On Friday, U.S. forces hit two Iranian-flagged oil tankers in an effort to break Iran’s blockade of the strait.