WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump said on social media Tuesday that he would briefly pause an operation to help escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, dubbed Project Freedom, citing progress toward a comprehensive agreement with Iran.
There was no immediate reaction from Tehran.
Hours earlier, Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed reporters on the effort to escort stranded tankers through the strait. The previous day, the U.S. military said it destroyed several Iranian small boats, as well as cruise missiles and drones.
Rubio and other senior administration officials said Iran could not be allowed to control traffic through the strait.
"There's no shooting unless we're shot at first," Rubio told reporters at the White House, where he said the United States achieved its objectives in its military campaign.
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"Operation Epic Fury is concluded," he said. "We're not cheering for an additional situation to occur."
U.S. officials sought to maintain a shaky 4-week-old ceasefire with Iran, even as U.S. ally the United Arab Emirates said it suffered a new wave of Iranian missile and drone strikes.
One of Trump's central objectives in launching military strikes against Iran was to ensure Tehran does not develop a nuclear weapon, something Tehran denied seeking. However, Iran has yet to hand over more than 900 pounds of highly enriched uranium.
Rubio called a U.S.-proposed United Nations resolution demanding Iran stop attacks and laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz a test of the utility of the U.N. and urged China and Russia not to repeat vetoes.
An Iranian woman walks past a mural Tuesday in Tehran, Iran.
U.N. Security Council members began closed talks Tuesday on a text the U.S. drafted with Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar, which, if it were to pass, could lead to sanctions against Iran and potentially authorize force if Tehran fails to halt attacks and threats to commercial shipping.
Fresh exchanges of fire Monday underscored the stakes as the U.S. and Iran struggle for control of the narrow waterway.
A previous Bahraini resolution that was backed by the U.S. and appeared to open a path to legitimize U.S. military action against Iran failed last month after Russia and China exercised their vetoes in the 15-member Security Council.
The new draft avoids explicit language authorizing force while still operating under Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter, which allows the council to impose measures ranging from sanctions to military action.
"Everyone wouldn't want to see this vetoed again, and we've made some slight adjustments to the language," Rubio told reporters at a White House news briefing, while adding: "I don't know if it will avoid a veto or not."
The Strait of Hormuz has been virtually shut since the U.S. and Israel began attacks on Iran on Feb. 28, triggering disruptions that pushed up commodity prices around the world.
Iran effectively sealed off the strait, which handles one-fifth of the world's oil and gas supply, by threatening to deploy mines, drones, missiles and fast-attack craft. The U.S. countered by blockading Iranian ports and mounting escorted transits for commercial vessels.
Earlier, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the U.S. secured a path through the waterway and hundreds of commercial ships were lining up to pass through.
"Right now the ceasefire certainly holds, but we're going to be watching very, very closely," he said.
General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Iranian attacks against U.S. forces fell "below the threshold of restarting major combat operations at this point."
Asked what Iran would need to do to violate the ceasefire, Trump said: "They know what not to do."
Shortly after Hegseth spoke, the UAE's defense ministry said its air defenses were again dealing with missile and drone attacks coming from Iran, though Iran's joint military command denied carrying out attacks.
The UAE's foreign ministry said the attacks were a serious escalation and posed a direct threat to the country's security, adding the Gulf Arab state reserved its "full and legitimate right" to respond.
After issuing a new map of the narrow strait with an expanded Iranian area of control, Iran's Revolutionary Guard warned vessels to stick to the corridors it set or face a "decisive response."
The U.S. military said Monday that two U.S. merchant ships made it through the strait, without saying when, while shipping company Maersk said the Alliance Fairfax, a U.S.-flagged ship, exited the Gulf under U.S. military escort.
Iran denied crossings took place.
People ride motorcycles near a billboard featuring an image of the late Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Tuesday in Tehran, Iran.
Pakistan's mediation efforts continue
The war killed thousands as it spread beyond Iran to Lebanon and the Persian Gulf. The head of the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday that even if the conflict ended immediately, it would take three to four months to deal with the consequences.
Rubio said 10 civilian sailors were among those who died in the conflict, adding that crews on vessels stranded in the waterway were "starving" and "isolated."
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that Iran's military was reduced to firing "peashooters" and Tehran wanted peace despite public saber-rattling. "They play games, but let me just tell you, they want to make a deal," he said.
U.S. and Iranian officials held one round of face-to-face peace talks, but attempts to set up further meetings failed.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said peace talks were still progressing with Pakistan's mediation. He was traveling to Beijing on Tuesday for talks with his Chinese counterpart, his ministry said. Trump also is due to visit China this month.
Trump said the U.S.-Israeli attacks aimed to eliminate what he called imminent threats from Iran, citing its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and its support for the Hamas and Hezbollah militant groups.
He insisted Iran must surrender its enriched uranium stockpiles to prevent it producing a nuclear weapon — an ambition Tehran denies.
