‘One step away from war’: Trump launches Project Freedom to open the Strait of Hormuz

Is the US-Iran war about to restart amid escalating tensions in the Strait of Hormuz?

Donald Trump has launched Project Freedom - a US Navy mission to break the Iranian blockade imposed since the beginning of the war. However, while the White House has framed the escort of neutral vessels as a “humanitarian gesture”, Tehran sees it as an escalation. Iran has fired missiles and drones at ships and an oil port in the UAE, and today says it is “just getting started”. 

Roland Oliphant and chief foreign affairs commentator David Blair discuss the latest updates and why both sides are now likely locked in a downward spiral, putting us “one step” away from renewed all-out fighting. 

Plus, former US Navy submariner Bryan Clark, director of the Center for Defense Concepts and Technology at the Hudson Institute, explains why America must put more force into the Strait of Hormuz if it wants to win against a patient enemy like Iran. He also talks through Iran’s remaining naval capabilities, from midget subs to fast boats. 

Highlights

• Why Trump’s Project Freedom will fail without more force
• An ex-US Navy submariner on what it will take to reopen the Strait of Hormuz

CONTRIBUTORS:

Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphant

David Blair, chief foreign affairs commentator @davidblairdt

Bryan Clark, senior fellow Hudson Institute @clarkdefense

CONTENT REFERENCED:

Trump has finally realised he must seize the Strait of Hormuz

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/04/trump-finally-realised-seize-the-strait-of-hormuz/

Producer: Peter Shevlin

Executive Producers: Venetia Rainey & Louisa Wells

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