President Donald Trump said on Sunday the U.S. would start an effort on Monday morning to free ships stranded in the Strait of Hormuz as a “humanitarian gesture” to aid neutral countries in the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.
Trump provided few details about the plan, which he said would aid ships and their crews that have been “locked up” in the strait and are running low on food and other supplies as Iran blocks access through the crucial waterway.
“We have told these Countries that we will guide their Ships safely out of these restricted Waterways, so that they can freely and ably get on with their business,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social site.
Iran has been blocking nearly all shipping from the Gulf apart from its own for more than two months. Last month, the U.S. imposed its own blockade of ships from Iranian ports.
It was not immediately clear which countries the U.S. operation would aid or how the operation would work. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter and the Pentagon declined to comment.
Trump threatened that any interference with the U.S. operation would “have to be dealt with forcefully.”
Iran said on Sunday it had received a U.S. response to its latest offer for peace talks a day after Trump said he would probably reject the Iranian proposal because “they have not paid a big enough price.”