Trump’s new plan to ‘guide’ merchant ships through Hormuz leaves many questions unanswered

 

Ships and boats in the Strait of Hormuz, Musandam, Oman, May 1, 2026. 

Stringer/Reuters

The US plan to “guide” ships through the Strait of Hormuz, announced by President Donald Trump just hours before it went into effect, leaves a lot of unanswered questions.

US Central Command said in a statement on X that its support for the operation, dubbed Project Freedom, “will include guided-missile destroyers, over 100 land and sea-based aircraft, multi-domain unmanned platforms.”

But how those military assets figure into getting merchant ships moving through the strait again is not defined.

Jennifer Parker, a nonresident fellow at the Lowy Institute and a former Royal Australian Navy officer, told CNN Monday that she expects the US military to increase its presence in and over the strait to provide reassurance to commercial vessels attempting to transit it.

“This appears to be an operation … which is less about providing direct protection to a vessel or a couple of vessels and more about trying to change the situation in the strait” so ships “feel safe,” Parker said.

That mission could include a few US Navy ships in the strait and a range of aircraft flying over it that could spot and take out any small boats or ships trying to attack commercial vessels, she said.

While a convoy escort operation, with US destroyers steaming alongside merchant ships, is unlikely, according to Parker, she said an increase of US warships going through the strait would be a positive move.

That’s because to stop the operation, Iran would have to directly confront the US Navy, something it has not done to date.

“In some ways (Trump) is forcing Iran’s hand,” she said.

“They would need to escalate and fire at US warships, which is a different level of escalation,” Parker said.

Trump’s announcement of the plan drew a quick rebuke from Iran, with Ebrahim Azizi, the head of the Iranian parliament’s National Security Commission, warning that that any US interference in the Strait of Hormuz would be considered a violation of the ceasefire that has been in effect since April 8.

“The Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf would not be managed by Trump’s delusional posts!” he said in a post on X.

“Any foreign military force, especially the invading American army” will be attacked if they try to approach or enter the Strait of Hormuz, the commander of the Iranian armed forces’ Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said, according to Iran’s Fars news agency reported.

Trump earlier said any “interference” from Iran would be met with “force.”

Shipping execs not convinced

Shipping executives are not convinced the new US plan lessens the risk. “It takes both sides to unblock — not just one,” Bjørn Højgaard, CEO of ship manager Anglo-Eastern told CNN.