Saudis feared Trump’s Project Freedom would spur Iran to attack, officials say

Saudi officials reacted with fury when President Trump announced Project Freedom, his surprise plan to escort ships through the Iranian-blocked Strait of Hormuz. Rather than rallying behind the move, the Kingdom immediately barred American warplanes from using Prince Sultan Airbase or Saudi airspace, forcing a humiliating pause just 36 hours later.

The operation, meant to reopen the critical waterway after an April 8 ceasefire, went forward without first informing Gulf partners. Two U.S. officials told NBC News that Riyadh feared the effort would provoke fresh Iranian strikes on Gulf infrastructure, potentially catastrophic in scale. A senior Middle East official called the execution “risky” and warned it could have triggered escalation the region could not absorb.

Saudi Arabia holds a unique advantage: its 750-mile East-West pipeline carries millions of gallons of oil daily from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea, bypassing the strait entirely. That reality gave the Kingdom little incentive to underwrite an American naval gamble that threatened its neighbors more than itself. Ambassador Dr. Rayed Krimly posted on X that the Kingdom “continues to stand in support of de-escalation and avoiding escalation, as well as negotiations.”

When Gulf allies pressed the Trump administration on how Washington would answer Iranian retaliation against their territory, the reply was blunt: a peace deal with Tehran remained the priority, and the U.S. would likely not respond to strikes on regional infrastructure. Kuwait joined the protest, revoking U.S. access, basing, and overflight rights until Trump reversed course. The entire episode, one official noted, would once have been settled with private phone calls; instead, the president’s social-media announcement put everything on “high focus.”

The White House now insists regional allies “were notified in advance,” disputes that any restrictions were imposed, and says the focus remains “getting a deal done.” Yet one U.S. official confirmed the operation will not resume soon precisely because Gulf concerns have not eased. U.S. Central Command had already publicized two U.S.-flagged ships transiting the strait and was staging additional vessels when the plug was pulled.

Trump’s national security team spent a day and a half talking up the mission only to watch it collapse under allied resistance. The episode leaves an uncomfortable question: if America’s closest Arab partners won’t grant access, basing, or overflight for a freedom-of-navigation operation in the Gulf, how credible is Washington’s leverage as it negotiates with Iran?

Original reporting: NBC News.