NBC News reported on Wednesday that President Trump quickly ended the US military operation to “guide” commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz due to backlash from the US’s Gulf Arab allies.
The report said that the abrupt reversal came after Saudi Arabia was caught off guard by Trump’s announcement of what he dubbed “Project Freedom,” and Riyadh informed the US that it would not allow the US military to fly aircraft from Prince Sultan Airbase or fly through Saudi airspace to support the effort.
Israel’s i24 reported on Thursday, citing Gulf sources, that Saudi Arabia would restrict US military access until the US “provides proper protection” from Iranian attacks. During the short-lived Project Freedom, the UAE came under missile and drone attacks, and the US downplayed the attacks and didn’t respond.
For its part, Iran’s military denied responsibility for the attacks in the UAE, which hit oil infrastructure, but sources told Iranian media that they were retaliation for the US launching the new military operation.
The NBC report said that a phone call between President Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman did not resolve the issue of Riyadh’s restrictions on US military access. It also said that the US spoke with Qatar and Oman only after Trump announced the military operation.
“The problem with that premise is that things are happening quickly in real time,” a Saudi source told NBC when asked if the announcement of Project Freedom took Riyadh by surprise. A White House official appeared to deny the report, insisting that “regional allies were notified in advance.”
During the US-Israeli bombing campaign against Iran, the Prince Sultan Airbase, located to the southeast of Riyadh, came under multiple attacks, including one that killed a US Army soldier, who died of wounds sustained on March 1. An Iranian missile and drone attack on the base on March 27 wounded at least 15 US troops, damaged US surveillance aircraft, and destroyed an E-3 Sentry aircraft.
