Project Freedom paused as Trump cites 'great progress' made in Iran agreement

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Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signaled Tuesday that no foreign power could force Iran to surrender.

“We Muslims have already surrendered to the Almighty; no one else can make us surrender,” Pezeshkian said in a post shared on X.

“In my call with Iraq's PM @AliFalihAlzaidy, I urged the U.S. to remove military threats from our region; followers of the Shiite school cannot be coerced by force. #Iran #Iraq,” he said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Beijing Tuesday ahead of scheduled talks with China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, according to Iran’s Tasnim and Fars news agencies.

“Seyyed Abbas Araghchi arrived in Beijing … at the head of a diplomatic delegation. During this visit, our country’s foreign minister will discuss bilateral relations and regional and international developments with his Chinese counterpart,” Fars reported, according to The Times of Israel.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) on Tuesday praised American service members deployed across the Middle East, calling them “the strongest fighting force the world has ever known."

“America's men and women in uniform serving across the Middle East represent the strongest fighting force the world has ever known,” the command said in a post shared on X.

A new review by NewsGuard has raised concerns about AI chatbots’ ability to handle disinformation, finding that Anthropic’s Claude repeated false claims in up to 15% of tested responses, Ynet reported on Tuesday.

In many of these cases, the chatbot cited sources linked to the Kremlin, showing a sharp increase from earlier tests, when the rate stood at just 4%.

The new findings suggest a growing vulnerability to coordinated propaganda, especially from Russian and Iranian sources.

The chatbot was also found to echo misleading narratives and, in some instances, rely on questionable or state-linked sources to support its responses, the report said.

Uncertainty over Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei’s health and the ambiguity around Iran’s leadership are raising questions about who is in charge, the Jerusalem Post reported Tuesday.

“Whether Mojtaba is well is a question we have been asking since February 28,” Dr. Thamar Eilam Gindin said Tuesday in a radio interview, the outlet reported.

“The answer changes with every leak. Rumors that he is dead are multiplying, which is what many thought from the beginning," Gindin said.

Speculation intensified after a ceremony in a small Iranian city honoring “martyrs of the war,” where Mojtaba's photograph reportedly appeared among the images displayed.

Gindin said Mojtaba roles have also largely been unofficial or unclear.

“There is a group, and it is not clear who they are, that says things in Mojtaba’s name and uses him as legitimacy for the decisions they make,” she said.

She described what has been called the Iranian “deep state,” adding it remains unclear who belongs to the group, how it operates, or how decisions are made.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke Tuesday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to discuss the deteriorating U.S.-Russia relationship, the war in Ukraine and Iranian aggression, Reuters reported.

The call comes as the U.S. pressures the United Nations Security Council on a resolution to condemn Tehran’s effective shutting down of the Strait of Hormuz.

During a press briefing earlier Tuesday, Rubio had called it a "test of the utility of the United Nations." He also directly challenged Moscow and Beijing.

"To both the Chinese and the Russians, I have argued that it is in their interest for that resolution to pass," Rubio said.

"It is in their interest not to see international waterways, particularly the Strait of Hormuz, closed and cause economic chaos for dozens and dozens of countries around the world," he added.

Iranians are suffering through job layoffs, unpaid wages and rising food prices, Iran International reported Wednesday.

“We do not know how we can go on with these prices. Yesterday I bought two sausages. It cost 1 million rials (about 70 cents),” one person said in a message sent to the outlet.

At the same time, Iran’s minimum wage has fallen below $90, and the rial continues to lose value, hitting a new low this week.

Another message said workers at a glass factory had still not received their March wages and that supplementary insurance had been cut.

Several citizens linked the deterioration to factory closures after the ceasefire, shortages of raw materials and rising rents.

“Since the ceasefire, most factories have shut down, especially in industrial estates. Everyone has become unemployed because of shortages of raw materials. Daily goods have become more expensive, deposits and rents have gone up, and medical and drug costs have soared,” another message said.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday the U.S. will take the issue of Iran's attacks on commercial shipping to the United Nations.

“The second thing we're doing is we're going to the UN,” Rubio told reporters at a White House press briefing.

“Everybody loves the UN, right? We're trying to go to the UN, and we're saying, ‘OK, countries of the world, condemn this, say that it is wrong for you to put mines there. It is wrong for you to shoot at commercial vessels," he said.

“If we live in a world where global shipping lanes can be taken over by countries, that will have a direct impact on Americans in the short and the long term."we're the only ones that can do anything about it,” he said.

Rubio’s remarks came as the State Department released a statement Tuesday saying that a U.N. Security Council resolution to defend freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz had been drafted at President Donald Trump’s direction.

“The draft resolution requires Iran to cease attacks, mining, and tolling,” the statement read.

“It demands that Iran disclose the number and location of the sea mines it has laid and cooperate with efforts to remove them, while also supporting the establishment of a humanitarian corridor.

“The United States looks forward to this resolution being voted on in the coming days and to receiving support from Security Council members and a broad base of co-sponsors,” it said.

Syrian authorities said Tuesday that security forces dismantled a Hezbollah-linked cell that had infiltrated the country and was allegedly planning high-level attacks.

The Interior Ministry said the group’s members entered Syrian territory after receiving “intensive specialized training” in Lebanon and were preparing to carry out a “sabotage agenda,” including targeted assassinations of senior government officials.

“Specialized units, in coordination with the General Intelligence Service, succeeded in delivering a preventive and decisive blow to a terrorist plot targeting the country’s security and symbols,” the ministry said in a statement, according to Ynet.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has demanded the release of two activists taken from a Gaza-bound flotilla, with one being a Brazilian national.

“Our government, together with that of Spain — which also had a citizen detained — demands that they be fully guaranteed their safety and immediately released,” Lula said in a post shared on X.

Thiago Avila and Saif Abu Keshek appeared in court Tuesday, where their detention was extended by six days, according to The Times of Israel.

Avila and Keshek are held in a prison in Ashkelon and were among dozens of activists on board the flotilla that was intercepted by Israeli forces off the coast of Greece in April.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said Tuesday that a cargo vessel was struck by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz.

This came amid rising tensions with Iran as the United States launched Project Freedom to help guide stranded commercial ships through the key global waterway.

“A verified source reported a cargo vessel has been struck by an unknown projectile,” the UKMTO said in a warning shared on X.

“Environmental impact is unknown at time of report. Vessels are advised to report any suspicious activity to UKMTO, while authorities investigate,” the maritime authority said.

President Donald Trump announced Project Freedom given thousands of commercial vessels are unable to pass through the strait for fear of attack by Iran. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed Tuesday that at least 10 crew members have already died ahead of the arrival of President Donald Trump’s “Project Freedom,” describing stranded crew members as vulnerable and isolated as tensions escalate.

Speaking at a White House press briefing, Rubio also outlined the administration’s justification for the operation, emphasizing that U.S. forces are acting defensively.

“They’re sitting ducks, they’re isolated, they’re starving, they’re vulnerable,” Rubio said of the crew members stranded for weeks.

“And at least 10 sailors have already died as a result of the civilian sailors,” he added.

“Under this president, under President Trump, the United States will help our friends,” he added.

“We’re going to stand up to rogue regimes like the one in Tehran, and we’re going to be unashamed to use our power and our abilities to project military power in the service of our national interest, above all else,” he said, highlighting the defensive nature of the U.S. action in the strait.

“There’s no shooting unless we’re shot at first. We’re not attacking them, but if they are attacking us,” he said.

“We’ll shoot down drones, we’ll shoot down missiles. But it’s defensive in nature. This is defensive. This is a defensive operation, and that’s what’s occurring here,” Rubio added.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that “Project Freedom” will rescue nearly 23,000 civilians from 87 countries who, he said, have been stranded at sea in the Persian Gulf amid escalating actions by Iran.

Speaking at a White House press briefing, Rubio accused Iran of engaging in what he called “piracy,” claiming commercial ships and their crews have been trapped for more than two months.

“Almost 23,000 civilians from 87 different countries are trapped inside the Gulf and left for dead in the Persian Gulf by this Iranian regime,” he said.

Rubio described how, for more than two months, “innocent sailors and commercial crew members have been stranded out at sea because Iran is conducting something. It’s not just criminal.”

“It’s criminal for sure, but it’s desperate and destructive,” he added.

Rubio highlighted how the crews are “at the mercy of this piracy. What it is, it’s piracy,” he said.

“Some of them have seen, you know, open fire and have been subjected to senseless attacks on several civilian ships already,”

He also said the crew were “being held hostage merely because Iran could do that, just as the regime brutally slaughtered tens of thousands of their own citizens for the crime of peaceful protest.”

A new U.S.-backed proposal to build a network of overland energy pipelines bypassing the Strait of Hormuz is gaining attention as tensions in the region expose a critical vulnerability in the global energy system.

A policy memo reviewed by Fox News Digital outlines the concept, known as "ARAM Express," a proposed consortium between the United States and Gulf partners to develop a multidirectional overland network for oil, gas and petrochemicals, originating with Richard Goldberg of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

The plan envisions pipelines extending westward to the Red Sea and Mediterranean, as well as southern routes toward the Arabian Sea, creating multiple export pathways that would reduce reliance on the strait, through which roughly one-third of the world’s seaborne oil currently flows.

The proposal would rely on broad international participation, with European and Asian buyers investing in infrastructure and securing long-term supply agreements.

"European buyers are desperate for long-term supply resilience, and Asian customers are equally exposed," Goldberg said. "Even China cannot tolerate the risk of a sustained disruption."

The push comes as Iran’s threats to commercial shipping and ongoing U.S. efforts to secure the waterway under President Donald Trump’s "Project Freedom" highlight the risks posed by a single chokepoint to global energy flows.

Roughly one-third of the world’s seaborne oil passes through the narrow waterway, making it a critical artery for global markets.

This is an excerpt from a report by Efrat Lachter.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned Tuesday that any vessels straying from its approved Hormuz route will face a “firm response.”

The warning came as Iran launched a new mechanism to govern maritime traffic through the Strait, Press TV, the country’s English-language state outlet, reported.

"We warn all vessels planning to transit the Strait of Hormuz that the only safe passage is the corridor previously announced by Iran,” it said in a statement carried by state television, according to The Times of Israel.

“Any diversion of ships to other routes is dangerous and will result in a firm response from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Navy," it said.

The warning also came on the second day of Project Freedom, aimed at facilitating the passage of commercial ships through the key international waterway.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said Tuesday X had removed verification badges from accounts linked to its foreign ministry.

Esmaeil Baghaei called the move “selective censorship.”

“X has now removed the blue check from Iran's MFA spokesperson’s account — after stripping the ministry and minister's verified badges — despite our full Premium+ payments,” Baghaei said in a post shared on X.

“This arbitrary de-verification fits X’s pattern of selective censorship and American digital piracy, aimed at suppressing the truth about the U.S. illegal war against Iran,” he added.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian cast the Iranian regime as an ethical power Tuesday while claiming its enemies were irresponsible.

“If politics is reduced to mere power, the result is the world we experience today: chaos, oppression and injustice, piracy,” Pezeshkian said in a post shared on X.

“In the Iranian national tradition and the framework of our religious knowledge, power without ethics is meaningless,” he added.

“Iran represents ethical and responsible power, and its enemies embody irresponsible and unaccountable power,” Pezeshkian said.

His remarks came as Reuters reported that Iran is responding to a U.S. military buildup and threats, “despite the path of dialogue being underway,” according to Iranian state media.

Trump’s “Project Freedom” continued Tuesday to ensure the passage of commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz