U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly halted Project Freedom—a plan to assist commercial vessels navigating the Strait of Hormuz—following Saudi Arabia’s refusal to permit U.S. military aircraft to use Prince Sultan Airbase or fly through its airspace.
The White House stated that regional allies were notified in advance about the operation. However, Aimen Dean, a former MI6 spy who has worked inside al-Qaeda, claimed Gulf Cooperation Council nations knew of Project Freedom roughly half a day prior and did not object initially. “Nobody in the GCC had a problem with that,” he said.
Dean described Project Freedom as a limited humanitarian-security effort aimed at freeing 22,000 sailors trapped around Hormuz. The initiative was presented as temporary to alleviate shipping lane congestion.
After Iran launched multiple strikes on Gulf infrastructure during the project, UAE territory was targeted in waves of drone and ballistic missile attacks. Washington’s response was characterized as minimal, with officials implying no escalation.
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait withdrew their support for Project Freedom, stating they had been misled about U.S. policy regarding Iranian aggression. “The problem was not Project Freedom itself,” Dean noted. “The problem was discovering midway through the operation that GCC nations were expected to sit quietly as punching bags while Washington played negotiation theatrics with Tehran.”
According to a Gulf source familiar with U.S.-Iran negotiations, the current cease-fire remains fragile, with Iran having launched at least 10 attacks on U.S. forces and Persian Gulf neighbors since April 8.
