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President Donald Trump has announced that the US military operation to escort stranded commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz has been paused just one day after it launched.

Some shit you should know before you dig in: If you’re unaware, Trump announced “Project Freedom” Sunday, which focused on guiding stranded commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz. Since the conflict with Iran broke out, 1,600 ships have been stranded in or near the strait, with roughly 20,000 seafarers stuck on board, running low on food and supplies. Project Freedom kicked off Monday with more than 15,000 US service members, guided-missile destroyers, more than 100 Navy and Air Force warplanes, and drones. Day one got off to a rocky start, with US forces destroying six to eight Iranian small boats after Iran fired cruise missiles, drones, and small craft at two US destroyers and US-flagged commercial vessels. The attacks expanded beyond the strait too, with the United Arab Emirates intercepting Iranian missiles and drones, a drone hitting an empty oil tanker affiliated with state oil company ADNOC, plus an attack on Oman’s Musandam Peninsula and an explosion on a South Korean cargo ship.

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What’s going on now: Trump announced a pause to the operation in a Truth Social post Tuesday evening, saying it was made “based on the request of Pakistan and other Countries” and citing “Great Progress” toward a final agreement with Iran. He wrote, “We have mutually agreed that, while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom (The Movement of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz) will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed.”

Despite this, the US naval blockade on Iranian ports will stay in place. There was no immediate comment from Iran, though Iranian state media spun the pause as a victory and said Trump had “retreated” after “continued failures” to reopen the strait.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also said that the events in the strait made it clear “there’s no military solution to a political crisis” and dubbed the operation “Project Deadlock.”

The pause came just hours after Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a press conference at the White House, where he called Iran’s attacks on ships and mining of the strait “criminal” and stressed that the US wasn’t going to accept a world where Iran could collect tolls from vessels passing through the strait. “Under no circumstances can we live in a world where we accept, ‘OK, this is normal…you have to coordinate with Iran. You have to pay them a toll in order to go through the Straits of Hormuz.”

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