The Donald Trump administration declared the end of its military operation against Iran and halted “Project Freedom,” which had aimed to extract ships trapped in the Strait of Hormuz, after just one day of implementation. It appears President Trump is seeking an exit to prevent a resumption of armed clashes. However, some point out that “declaring the end of the war does not make it so when nothing has been resolved, including Iran’s nuclear issue and control of the Strait of Hormuz.”

At a press conference on the 5th (local time), U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, “The ‘Great Fury’ operation (the military action against Iran) has successfully achieved its objectives and ended. President Trump has notified Congress of the operation’s termination,” adding, “That phase is over, and we are now carrying out ‘Project Freedom.’” Secretary Rubio repeatedly emphasized that while U.S. forces would respond if Iran attacked first, ‘Project Freedom’ is fundamentally defensive in nature.

However, President Trump later announced that even ‘Project Freedom’ would be temporarily suspended after just one day of implementation. In a post on social media, he explained the decision by saying he had “considered requests from several countries, including Pakistan, and the fact that progress had been made in understandings with the Iranian delegation,” but observers interpret this as reflecting that it failed to deliver the expected effect while merely heightening the risk of armed confrontation.

The New York Times (NYT) pointed out, “When the truce took effect last month, President Trump spoke very firmly that bombers would fly again unless Iran abandoned its nuclear program or reopened the Strait of Hormuz,” adding, “With missiles still being exchanged and both sides claiming control of the strait, an end-of-war declaration contradicts the prior position.”

Also, despite having come under missile attack from Iran the previous day, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stressed at the press conference that “the threshold has not been crossed” and that “the truce remains in effect.” The day before, Iran fired cruise missiles at warships and merchant vessels attempting to transit the strait and attacked oil facilities at the United Arab Emirates (UAE) port of Fujairah. Iran, however, claimed it did not attack the UAE.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) noted concerns that President Trump, in his fixation on escaping the war, appears inclined to overlook Iran’s renewed attacks on Gulf states. Daniya Tafer, director of the Gulf International Forum, said, “It appears the United States is effectively abandoning the Gulf states, which are exposed to grave danger by the U.S.-Israel war.”

However, separate from the suspension of ‘Project Freedom,’ President Trump made it clear that “comprehensive naval blockade measures will remain in place,” signaling continued intense pressure on Iran. This has prompted suspicions that the announcement ending ‘Great Fury’ is merely an attempt to change the operation’s name to circumvent the 60-day limit on war without congressional approval.

President Trump urged allies to join the operation to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and focused particular pressure on South Korea, where a cargo ship explosion occurred.

At a White House event and in media interviews the same day, President Trump asserted, “The South Korean vessel was not in formation and got smashed trying to act alone,” and, “Since multiple shots were fired by Iran targeting the South Korean ship, South Korea must take action in some way.” Although the South Korean government said the cause is still under investigation, he treated it as a fait accompli of an Iranian attack to pressure a troop dispatch. Secretary Hegseth also said the South Korean cargo ship explosion “shows Iran’s indiscriminate attacks” and stressed, “We hope South Korea will play a larger role in reopening the Strait of Hormuz.”

In response, the New York Times noted, “What Secretary Hegseth did not mention is the fact that the strait was open before the ‘Great Fury’ operation,” and described “Project Freedom” as “another attempt by the Trump administration to fix a problem of its own making.”

Meanwhile, Iran, which labeled as false the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) announcement that it had been attacked by Iran, warned it would retaliate if the UAE used it as a pretext to strike Iran. A spokesperson for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Military Headquarters, which exercises unified command over Iran’s armed forces, warned, “If any military action is initiated by the UAE targeting Iran’s islands, ports, or coasts, we will respond immediately with destructive and regret-inducing retaliation.”