What happened during the night Trump contradicts Rubio - and himself: But no Hormuz mission, diplomacy again instead

Trump speaks of great progress towards an agreement with Iran. And surprisingly suspends the US operation in the Strait of Hormuz after just one day. Pakistan has asked for a break. These are the developments of the past few hours.

Keystone-SDA

06.05.2026, 06:23

06.05.2026, 07:45

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According to US President Donald Trump, the US-Iranian talks are making progress. He therefore halts "Project Freedom" in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran announces rules for passage.

blue News summarizes what happened on Wednesday night (6.5.).

US President Donald Trump is focusing on de-escalation in the conflict with Iran in order to achieve a diplomatic breakthrough. Surprisingly, he announced on his Truth Social platform that he was suspending the US deployment for the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, which was only launched on Monday, "for a short time". During the suspension of "Project Freedom", the aim is to examine whether an agreement with Iran can be concluded and signed. There had been "great progress" towards a "comprehensive and final" agreement.

Following mutual attacks in the Strait of Hormuz since Monday, fears had grown that the ceasefire, which has been in place for around a month and was recently unilaterally extended indefinitely by Trump, could fail. With "Project Freedom", the USA wants to reopen the blocked Strait of Hormuz to shipping traffic. The strait is of crucial importance to the global economy due to exports of oil and liquid gas from the Persian Gulf states, among other things.

The fact that Trump is now suspending the mission comes as a great surprise: shortly before Trump's announcement on Tuesday evening (local time), both Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio had promoted the new US initiative. Rubio said that the new project would be dedicated "now" after the US offensive "Epic Fury" had been completed. The US government had given this name ("Epic Fury") to its war against Iran, which it launched together with Israel at the end of February.

Trump went on to write in his post that the US blockade against ships entering or leaving Iranian ports remains in full force. The suspension of "Project Freedom" was at the request of Pakistan and other countries as well as the "tremendous military successes" of the USA.

Pakistan is mediating between Washington and Tehran. Negotiators from both sides met for initial talks in the capital Islamabad on April 11. However, these remained without a breakthrough. Another planned round of negotiations fell through. A central point of contention is how to deal with Iran's nuclear program, including its stocks of highly enriched uranium.

Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing, as reported by the state news agency Xinhua.

The Iranian leadership had appeared unimpressed by US pressure until recently - it believes it has more staying power, especially as rising gasoline prices in the US are putting Trump and his Republicans under pressure in an election year. In response to "Project Freedom", Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran's parliament and his country's chief negotiator, wrote on Platform X: "We know very well that continuing the status quo is unacceptable for America, while we have only just begun."

Tehran insists on its demand to control traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. This is to be achieved with the help of a new approval procedure. According to Iranian state media, operators of ships that want to sail through the strait are to receive an email with rules and regulations for transit. The ships would then need permission from an Iranian authority (Persian Gulf Strait Authority) to transit, state broadcaster Press TV reported.

It initially remained unclear what the rules would look like and how Iran could react to violations. According to Press TV, the mechanism in the Strait of Hormuz is already in operation. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards - the Islamic Republic's elite military force - warned ships on Tuesday not to pass through the strait via unauthorized routes, otherwise a "resolute response" would follow.

To secure shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, the USA drafted a UN resolution together with allied Gulf states on Tuesday. In it, the parties call on Iran to refrain from further violent escalations in the strait, as US Secretary of State Rubio announced.

According to the resolution, Tehran should stop attacking ships, mining the strait and charging tolls for passage. Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar were involved in the draft.