Foreign Policy

Trump's Bluff to Iran Didn't Work

After trying to open the Strait of Hormuz by force, the U.S. is ready to accept an Iranian proposal it had rejected.

Matthew Petti | 5.6.2026 10:04 AM

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(Illustration: Midjourney/MODIS Land Rapid Response Team/National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/Wikimedia Commons)

Project Freedom was over before it started. On Sunday night, President Donald Trump announced the U.S. military initiative to guide ships out of the Persian Gulf, where they have been trapped since the U.S.-Iranian war closed the Strait of Hormuz a month ago. On Tuesday night, Trump declared that Project Freedom was "paused" and the U.S. would keep up its blockade of Iranian ports.

The next morning, Trump confusingly wrote that the blockade will be lifted if "Iran agrees to give what has been agreed to, which is, perhaps, a big assumption," and threatened bombing "at a much higher level and intensity than it was before" if the deal falls through.

U.S. officials told Axios early on Wednesday morning that they are ready to accept a framework for new peace talks. Iran would gradually reopen the strait while the U.S. lifts its blockade, and both sides would have 30 days to negotiate a detailed agreement, which would restrict Iran's nuclear program in exchange for lifting U.S. economic sanctions. Disarming Iran's missile forces, which the Trump administration had named as a........

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