Iran has called Donald Trump's bluff over his "Project Freedom" initiative in the Strait of Hormuz, according to a defence expert, as the US President paused the plan after just two days.
The project was intended to guide stranded ships through the waterway, which Iran continues to block. Tehran has demanded no vessels pass without authorisation. Trump announced the pause to see if a deal could be struck, before issuing fresh threats.
Professor Anthony Glees of the University of Buckingham said the project is "melting like the snow in summer". He argued the war has been a defeat for Trump, despite US forces destroying much of Iran's military capability, because they have not eliminated the political leadership, the Revolutionary Guard Corps, or Iran's drone and missile arsenal.
Glees also noted that Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have succeeded in closing the strait, which had been open, crippling the global economy. Australia, New Zealand and parts of South East Asia are already starved of oil, with western Europe "a few steps behind". He suggested JD Vance and Marco Rubio are distancing themselves from Trump's "grandiose nonsense".
He added that Trump does not want to admit Iran has called his bluff, and cannot restart fighting because it would not reopen the strait. Europe could help him extricate himself, making it "a win-win for Europe". Iran's state media described the pause as a retreat after US failures.
Trump later threatened that unless Iran agrees to a peace deal, bombing would resume "at a much higher level and intensity". He said the blockade would allow the strait to be open to all if Iran agrees.
