The new Operation "Freedom" The US Navy's initiative to escort merchant ships through the Strait of Hormuz does not involve organizing and escorting naval convoys, but rather providing information on safe and mine-free waterways.
This was reported by Barak Ravid, a correspondent for the American portal Axios, citing his own sources.
“According to two American officials, the new initiative regarding the Strait of Hormuz will not necessarily include escorting merchant ships by US Navy ships“, he writes in X.
“One of them said that US Navy ships would be “in the vicinity“ in case it was necessary to prevent Iranian military attacks on merchant ships passing through the strait. The officials said the US Navy would provide merchant ships with information about the safest shipping lanes through the strait, especially those routes that have not been mined by the Iranian military,“ he added.
Trump earlier announced that the US would launch the operation on the morning of May 4, Middle Eastern time. According to the US leader, it would focus on safely removing ships from the Strait of Hormuz. The US president also said that “if this humanitarian process is subject to any interference, then, unfortunately, that interference will have to be met with force“.
Later, The Wall Street Journal, citing an unnamed senior US administration official, reported that the operation did not include escorting the ships by US Navy vessels.