Melissa Pereira, Staff Reporter
Wed May 06, 2026
On a Social Media Post made this Wednesday, May 06, President Trump said Iran will be bombed “at a much higher level” if it doesn’t agree to a peace deal even as his administration simultaneously announced a pause to its naval escort operation through the Strait of Hormuz citing “great progress” in negotiations. Trump said the war “will be at an end” if Iran agrees to the proposals, meaning the Strait of Hormuz “will be open to all.”
The threat came hours after Trump announced the suspension of Project Freedom, the US military operation launched to escort commercial ships through the Hormuz Strait. The President said the operation is on hold following “great progress” in talks with Iran, in a Truth Social post on Tuesday evening, which made his Wednesday post more shocking to the public.
His comments follow an announcement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Operation Epic Fury – the joint US-Israeli offensive against Iran – is over. On the same day of Marco Rubio’s announcement, Tuesday, Trump also confirmed that a US naval blockade of Iranian ports would remain in full effect throughout the pause, warning that it would only be lifted once a deal was signed. “Assuming Iran agrees to give what has been agreed to, which is, perhaps, a big assumption,” the President wrote, “the Hormuz Strait will be open to all, including Iran.” Meanwhile, Iranian state-run media outlets characterized Trump’s pause on “Project Freedom” as the US President backing down “following firm positions and warnings from Iran.”
The President did leave open the door to an agreement, which he said would end the US military operation against the country but added it is possibly a “big assumption” the two sides can come to an agreement. With the next round of US-Iran talks scheduled for Sunday, May 11 in Oman, the window for a diplomatic resolution and the fate of the Strait may become clearer within days.
