President Donald Trump has said that the United States will \u201chelp free up\u201d ships stuck in the Strait of Hormuz starting on Monday, suggesting that his administration will break the Iranian blockade on the strategic waterway.<\/p>\n
Trump said on Sunday that the push \u2013 dubbed Project Freedom \u2013 would be a \u201chumanitarian gesture\u201d at the request of countries \u201cneutral\u201d to the conflict whose vessels are stranded in the strait, and warned against interference with the operation.<\/p>\n
Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the good of Iran, the Middle East, and the United States, we have told these Countries that we will guide their Ships safely out of these restricted Waterways, so that they can freely and ably get on with their business,\u201d the US president said, without specifying which countries called for Washington\u2019s help.<\/p>\n
It is unclear how the campaign will proceed or whether it will involve coordination with Tehran. If met with Iranian resistance, the move risks shattering the fragile ceasefire<\/a> that came into effect in April.<\/p>\n \u201cMany of these Ships are running low on food, and everything else necessary for largescale crews to stay on board in a healthy and sanitary manner,\u201d the US president wrote in a social media post.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it would go a long way in showing Goodwill on behalf of all of those who have been fighting so strenuously over the last number of months. If, in any way, this Humanitarian process is interfered with, that interference will, unfortunately, have to be dealt with forcefully.\u201d<\/p>\n The US military has previously said<\/a> that it is \u201cnot ready\u201d to accompany vessels through the narrow waterway, where it could come under fire from Iranian territory.<\/p>\n \u2018Is this a negotiating tactic?\u2019<\/p>\n Although the truce has held for more than three weeks, Tehran\u2019s blockade in Hormuz and Washington\u2019s naval siege on Iranian ports have sent oil prices soaring.<\/p>\n In the US, petrol has risen $4.44 per gallon, up from less than $3 before the war started, fuelling inflation<\/a>. Energy costs are driving increasing public discontent with the war as Trump\u2019s job approval ratings plummet, according to recent pubic opinion polls<\/a>.<\/p>\n