Trump Declares Iran Operation Over, but Path Out Remains Unclear as Nuclear Goal Fades

US Signals Its Own End to the War: ‘Operation Vast Fury’ Ends

The US said on May 5 it was halting both Operation Vast Fury against Iran and Project Freedom, the mission to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The announcement amounted to what many viewed as a unilateral declaration that the war was effectively over.

President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that Iran’s delegation had made “major progress toward a complete and final agreement” and that both sides had agreed to temporarily suspend Project Freedom. Two hours earlier, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters at the White House that Operation Vast Fury, which began on Feb. 28, had ended over the weekend, when Project Freedom was launched.

A Bid to Avoid the 60-Day War Powers Deadline, but the Shift Added to Confusion

Iran Imposes Prior Approval, Tightening Restrictions on Strait Traffic

The Trump administration’s message on the Iran war on May 5 was muddled on several fronts. Rubio said Project Freedom was continuing, only for Trump to reverse that position two hours later. Rubio also announced the end of Operation Vast Fury, the broader campaign covering the war, while setting its end date two days earlier.

The sequence pointed to a more serious US effort to pull back from the war. Washington’s stated goals at the outset — blocking Iran’s nuclear weapons development and removing enriched uranium — have faded from view. The focus has shifted to reopening the Strait of Hormuz. That raises the prospect that ceasefire talks could unfold along the lines of Tehran’s proposal, including sanctions relief in exchange for reopening the waterway.

Renaming the Operation to Sidestep Controversy?

Rubio formally announced the end of Operation Vast Fury during a White House briefing that began at 3:15 p.m. and lasted about 50 minutes. He said Project Freedom had started over the weekend and was aimed at rescuing about 23,000 civilians from 87 countries who had been stranded in Gulf waters for more than two months. He also described it as a defensive mission and said US forces would not fire unless attacked first.

By Rubio’s account, Trump’s May 3 announcement of Project Freedom was less a detailed operational plan than a declaration of a shift in strategy. The apparent goal was to avoid explicitly crossing the 60-day limit under the War Powers Resolution while continuing talks with Iran by declaring the war over and giving the next phase a new name.

Less than three hours after Rubio finished that explanation, Trump wrote on social media that Project Freedom would be suspended because of progress in talks with Iran. Nothing in Rubio’s briefing had signaled such a move. Rubio is also serving as national security adviser, the head of the National Security Council.

Some officials in the Trump administration are still raising the option of renewed strikes on Iran, but the chances of that appear to be diminishing. Rubio repeatedly stressed that the mission was defensive. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also said he did not see the situation as anything other than a ceasefire, even if Iran had attacked neighboring countries.

Iran Says Ships Leaving Assigned Routes Will Face Attack

Iran says the latest developments show it has the upper hand. In practice, issues directly tied to Iran’s nuclear program — including shipping out uranium and halting ballistic missile development — have for now disappeared from US operational goals. Iran still controls the strait, and events are increasingly tracking the second proposal Tehran sent to Washington.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on May 5 that all vessels seeking to pass through the strait must obtain approval from the Iranian military. IRGC Deputy Commander Yadollah Javani said only routes designated by Iran would be considered the sole safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Any vessel that deviates from those routes would be unsafe and would face a firm response from the IRGC Navy. Iran’s inflation rate has reached 70%, and the rial has plunged, but large pro-government crowds are still gathering in Tehran’s public squares.

Traffic through the strait barely increased even after Project Freedom was announced. S&P Global Market Intelligence said only seven ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz in the two days after the US began Project Freedom on May 4. Hegseth said at a briefing that hundreds of ships were waiting to leave the area, but most commercial vessels are refusing to transit the strait without firm assurances that Iran will not attack them.

Diplomatic efforts to reopen the strait are continuing, however, and markets took that as a positive sign. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on May 5. Araghchi said Iran was pursuing only a “fair and comprehensive agreement” with the US.

Markets focused more on easing tensions in the Gulf after Project Freedom was announced. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery fell nearly 3% on May 5 to below $100 a barrel. Brent crude for July delivery also dropped more than 2%.

Lee Sang-eun, Washington correspondent, Hankyung.com, selee@hankyung.com