Trump shelved the Freedom Project after Saudi Arabia refused to provide military bases and airspace.

Saudi Arabia's refusal to allow the US to use its bases and airspace to provide military escorts for oil tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz led Donald Trump to postpone the "Project Freedom" plan for military escorts of ships through the Strait of Hormuz. This happened just days after its implementation began, writes The Guardian.

Riyadh informed the White House that it would not allow the Prince Sultan Air Base to be used for Operation Project Freedom, a military escort operation through the Strait of Hormuz. The US presented it as a continuation of Operation Epic Fury.

Saudi Arabia refused to drop its objections despite a private phone call between Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Trump.

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The conflict, which Riyadh has not denied, underscores Saudi Arabia's desire to see a definitive end to the US-Israeli war against Iran under virtually any conditions, in contrast to its more determined Gulf neighbor, the United Arab Emirates.

In a sign of dissatisfaction with Riyadh's cautious stance, the UAE has already withdrawn from the Saudi-controlled OPEC oil exporting group and is now considering leaving the Arab League.

The UAE is a party to the Abraham Accords (a series of agreements on normalizing relations between Israel and several Arab countries, reached in 2020 with US mediation). Approx. Ed.) have long been located closer to Israel, but tensions within the Persian Gulf have increased as the war drags on, causing significant damage to the economies of the region's countries and their international reputations.

The Emirates are outraged that they have become the main target of Iran's attacks and believe that solidarity among regional countries has been insufficient.

Saudi Arabia feared that Project Freedom lacked clearly defined rules of engagement and could escalate into a naval clash between Iran and the United States, effectively ending the ceasefire that had been in effect since April 7. Iran explicitly stated that it would consider military escorts of US tankers or attacks on Iranian vessels a violation of the ceasefire, which would expose the Gulf states to further attacks.

The end of the ceasefire would have led not only to a naval conflict in the strait but also to Tehran's resumption of drone and missile strikes against US bases in the region and energy infrastructure. These strikes likely caused greater damage to Gulf infrastructure than previously reported.

Saudi Arabia's intervention will be perceived as a belated expression of Riyadh's distrust of Trump's handling of the conflict. Saudi Arabia has often appeared as the aggrieved party, but lacking any real leverage, in a conflict it did not initially support. It was dissatisfied with both the level of protection the US provided against Iranian attacks and the consistency of the White House's strategy.

One Saudi diplomat noted what had long been obvious: the United States was caught in a conflict it could neither escalate nor resolve.

On May 5, after two days of declaring the importance of the Freedom Project, Trump issued a surprise statement abruptly reversing course. He announced that the operation was being temporarily suspended by mutual agreement due to significant progress in negotiations with Iran, partly thanks to China's intervention. He said the pause would allow time to assess the feasibility of an agreement.

Trump made no mention of Saudi Arabia's objections or its refusal to provide airspace. His unexpected decision overturned the vocal statements of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Kaine, who claimed the operation would finally ensure freedom of navigation for hundreds of ships stranded in the strait. The plan, however, called for the continuation of the US blockade of Iranian ports.

Saudi Arabia may have feared that the Freedom Project would draw Yemen's Houthi movement into the conflict. Riyadh is actively trying to prevent the participation of this armed political-religious group. Closing the Red Sea route due to Houthi actions would only increase the threat to global oil supplies. Saudi Arabia reached an agreement with Iran that guarantees the security of its pipeline to the port of Yanbu, allowing it to export up to 50% of its production through the Red Sea.

The Emirates, by contrast, have been much more aggressive in trying to get their tankers past the Iranian blockade, often turning off their transponders to avoid tracking.

Riyadh's intervention, which has narrowed Trump's options for breaking the blockade, is likely to further deteriorate relations between Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

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Riyadh was already concerned that deepening ties between the UAE and Israel could lead to the deployment of a small number of Israeli troops on Emirati soil. Saudi Arabia, with its significantly larger population and pro-Palestinian sentiments, has had to tread more cautiously on matters related to Israel. Together with France, Saudi Arabia promoted the idea of ​​international recognition of a Palestinian state.

Saudi Arabia also has separate disagreements with the Emirates over Yemen, Somalia, and Sudan. None of these differences will be easier to resolve if the US is forced to reach an agreement with Iran on terms that the UAE and Israel deem inconsistent with the minimum demands of Tehran's critics.

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