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Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy announced Wednesday that safe and stable transit through the Strait of Hormuz would be ensured under "new procedures," offering Tehran's first direct response to U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to pause Project Freedom and signaling a potential path toward reopening the world's most critical energy chokepoint.
"We thank the captains and shipowners stationed in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman for transiting the Strait of Hormuz in accordance with Iranian regulations and for their positive contribution to regional maritime security," the IRGC Navy Command said in a statement posted to X.
"With the end of threats from aggressors and in light of new procedures, the possibility of safe and stable transit through the strait will be ensured," the statement added.
The statement did not specify what the new procedures entail.
The IRGC's reference to "aggressor threats" being neutralized is a likely reference to Trump's announcement that Project Freedom, the U.S. military operation to guide stranded vessels through the strait, had been paused to allow space for a potential final deal with Iran.
The IRGC's language is significant: by thanking ship captains for complying with Iranian regulations and conditioning future transit on "new procedures," Tehran is asserting its own authority over the waterway rather than acknowledging any U.S. role in reopening it.
Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei had previously said Iran would implement a "new management plan" for the strait, and Iranian officials had disclosed a legislative proposal envisioning a transit fee framework for the waterway.
The IRGC statement followed Trump's Truth Social post Tuesday announcing the Project Freedom pause, in which he cited "great progress" toward "a complete and final agreement" with Iranian representatives and said the pause was agreed to mutually at the request of Pakistan and other countries, while the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports remained in full force.
The IRGC statement comes as Axios reported Wednesday, citing U.S. officials and sources briefed on the negotiations, that the U.S. and Iran are nearing a one-page, 14-point memorandum of understanding to end the war, covering an enrichment moratorium, sanctions relief, release of frozen Iranian funds and a gradual reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian responses on key remaining points were expected within 48 hours, Axios reported.
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