Donald Trump's 'Project Freedom' — a US military scheme to escort commercial shipping through the strait of Hormuz amid an ongoing war with Iran — collapsed within days of its announcement after Saudi Arabia refused to grant American forces access to Prince Sultan airbase or its airspace. Trump publicly attributed the suspension to diplomatic progress and Chinese mediation, making no mention of Riyadh's veto, but the decision exposed deep fractures between Washington and its Gulf allies, who complained of being neither consulted nor protected. Iran's parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf mocked the outcome on social media, writing 'Operation Trust Me Bro failed,' as an estimated 2,000 vessels remain stranded in the Gulf and formal negotiations over a broader settlement — covering Iran's nuclear programme, US sanctions, and roughly $100bn in frozen Iranian assets — remain stalled.