Trump Says U.S. Will Guide Stranded Ships Through Strait of Hormuz

President Trump said Sunday the U.S. would start guiding commercial ships out of the Strait of Hormuz where they have been trapped by the war between the U.S. and Iran.

“Countries from all over the World…have asked the United States if we could help free up their Ships, which are locked up in the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday. “For the good of Iran, the Middle East, and the United States, we have told these Countries that we will guide their Ships safely out of these restricted Waterways, so that they can freely and ably get on with their business.”

The new mechanism, which Trump dubbed “Project Freedom,” is effectively a coordination cell to move traffic through the Strait, involving countries, insurance companies and shipping organizations, according to two senior U.S. officials. It doesn’t currently involve U.S. Navy warships escorting vessels through the strait, the officials said.

But European diplomats and shipowners recalled previous failed attempts by the president to get shipping moving, including his call for NATO allies to send warships, a request that went unheeded. Without warship escorts, a coordination cell is unlikely to markedly change the situation in the strait, they said.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps recently deployed naval mines in the strait, posing new dangers for commercial shipping traffic through the waterway, according to one of the officials. Before the conflict, some 20% of the world’s oil supply passed through the strait.

The latest Trump proposal will involve locating the mines and passing along that information to ships transiting the waterway so they can avoid danger, according to senior U.S. officials, as well as identifying generally the safest routes to navigate.

The U.S. is seeking the support of other nations to provide information that would help identify those navigable routes, officials said.

If there is interference with the process, that “will, unfortunately, have to be dealt with forcefully,” Trump said in his social-media post. 

The initiative will begin Monday morning, Middle East time, Trump wrote.

He described the move as a “humanitarian gesture” on behalf of the U.S., Middle Eastern countries and, in particular, Iran, without elaborating on what role the Islamic Republic would play.

U.S. military support for the effort will include 15,000 servicemembers, as well as guided-missile destroyers, over 100 land and sea-based aircraft, and unmanned platforms, according to a statement by U.S. Central Command.

Iran has targeted some 25 commercial vessels in and around the strait since the start of the conflict. On Sunday, a bulk carrier reported being attacked by multiple small vessels in the waterway, according to the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations, which is affiliated with the Royal Navy.

Iran’s so-called Mosquito fleet of small attack craft resumed attacks on ships in the strait after Trump said his blockade of Iranian ports would continue despite a temporary cease-fire. Iran has seized two commercial ships in recent weeks using small, gun-mounted boats.

Trump’s announcement comes as he said he would likely reject an Iranian proposal to end the war, in the latest sign the U.S. and Iran have hit an impasse on cease-fire talks.

Iran in recent days submitted a 14-point plan to fully end war with the U.S. after both sides declared a temporary truce on April 7 to pave the way for negotiations. Key points of the Iranian plan were nonstarters for the U.S. side, including a payment of war reparations to Tehran and releasing of Iranian frozen assets. 

So far, the 15 ships that have crossed the strait over the last five weeks have gone through Larak Island, a corridor in the north of the strait, which is fully controlled by the Revolutionary Guard, which is charging tolls of around $2 million a ship. Those that have crossed are mostly Greek, Chinese and Indian- owned vessels, according to brokers and ship trackers. The ships were carrying crude oil, butane gas and consumer products.

Trump has repeatedly insisted that Iran must reopen the strait and fully abandon its nuclear program as part of any final deal to end the war. U.S. allies in Europe have been sending this message to Iran in their own efforts to advance peace talks.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday said Iran was beginning to feel pressure from the blockade and may have to start shutting down its own oil wells soon as storage facilities fill up amid the U.S. blockade. “They are rapidly filling up, filling up storage. And as that happens, they’re going to have to start shutting in wells, which we think could be in the next week,” he told Fox News. 

While the U.S. blockade has ratcheted up pressure on Tehran, economic pressure alone may not be enough to convince the Iranian government to abandon its longstanding strategic goal of maintaining a nuclear weapons program and funding proxy terrorist groups across the region, officials and analysts have said. 

U.S. forces have redirected 49 vessels as part of the blockade, U.S. Central Command, which is enforcing the blockade of Iranian ports, announced on Sunday.

READ MORE : Trump Says U.S. Will Guide Stranded Ships Through Strait of Hormuz - WSJ

Medical marijuana sales set to start in Alabama, Mobile & Daphne location timelines murky

MOBILE, Ala. (NBC 15) — Alabamians may soon be able to legally purchase medical marijuana, five years after the state legalized it. The Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission says the first dispensary is expected to open this month in Montgomery. Right now, the state has approved nine dispensary locations statewide, though it remains unclear when stores planned for Mobile and Daphne will open.

The store locations approved in RJK Holdings AL, LLC dispensary application in Mobile on Airport Boulevard and on Highway 98 in Daphne sit empty. NBC 15 News reached out to the owner of the company for updates on opening timelines but has not received a response.

Three companies received dispensary licenses in January. Each is allowed to operate up to three locations. Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission Director John McMillan says he’s hopeful all nine dispensaries will be open by summer.

“Without trying to set a date, we think and hope that by July, all nine dispensers will be in business,” said McMillan.

A fourth dispensary license remains on hold, which could eventually bring the total number of locations to 12.

Meanwhile, the state medical board says 43 doctors are now certified to recommend medical cannabis. More are the process of becoming certified, as 146 doctors have taken the required medical cannabis course.

“We don’t know when they’re going to start, or if they have actually started seeing patients,” said McMillan.

So far, about 110 patients have registered with the state’s medical cannabis program. However, advocates say many Alabamians still don’t know how to access it.

“There isn't any information that we have been able to locate that would pinpoint for the average citizen that wanted to participate in this program, how to participate in the program," said Alabama Cannabis Coalition Founder & President H Marty Schelper.

The coalition created its own website with a list of certified doctors, contact information, and frequently asked questions to help bridge the information gap.

“Without those patients, this program is not going to succeed,” said Schelper.

Once additional integrated or “seed-to-sale” licenses are approved, up to 25 more dispensary locations can open across the state - bringing the total to 37. McMillan says that may not happen until next year.

Read more : Medical marijuana sales set to start in Alabama, Mobile & Daphne location timelines murky