President indicated that deal had materialised, but truth was that Saudi Arabia had stopped US use of its bases
When Donald Trump abruptly pulled the plug on “Project Freedom”, the scheme to open the strait of Hormuz, barely a day after it had been announced, he gave the impression that an opportunity for a peace deal had materialised that could not be missed.
To the surprise of nobody who has been following the US’s recent adventures in geopolitics, Trump’s spin concealed a lot of the underlying reality. It turns out that Trump suspended Project Freedom after Saudi Arabia stopped the US military from using its bases or airspace to carry out the operation, which involved giving air cover to commercial shipping sailing through the strait.
There are different versions of why this happened. NBC News, which first reported the Saudi action, suggested it was because Riyadh, and other Gulf capitals, were not informed beforehand. Elsewhere, Saudi commentary said the shutdown of US operations was only made after an Iranian attack on oil facilities in Fujairah, one of the seven emirates in the UAE – an attack that was played down by the US, which did not respond to it. That showed Riyadh, the commentators said, that Washington was ready to launch major operations in the Gulf without consulting its allies – or protecting them from the fallout.
