Trump paused “Project Freedom”—the U.S. military escort initiative through the Strait of Hormuz—at the request of Pakistan and other countries while seeking to finalize a nuclear deal with Iran. An Iranian lawmaker dismissed the move as a "retreat," saying it confirmed Iran's resolve to maintain control of the strait.

“Project Freedom, which is now paused after a couple of days, was always going to be a big stretch from a maritime standpoint in terms of the operational and tactical goals of it because we cannot really get all the merchant ships that are bottled up, the 1,500 or so in the Persian Gulf, through the Strait of Hormuz at scale to the tune of where they were before the conflict started, more than 100 per day, if the Iranians choose to contest it, no matter how much protection we try to provide for them,” Vice Adm. Robert Murrett (Ret.), professor of practice of public administration and international affairs, tells CBS News. 

In the Newsweek article, “Iranian Official Calls Trump’s Project Freedom Pause a ‘Retreat’,” Murrett says, “It's hard to pinpoint how many warships, planes and helicopters are needed to accompany merchant ships through the strait, but it could take well over a month to clear the backlog of stranded ships.”

Murrett was also featured in the RadioFreeEurope article, “A US Vice-Admiral On The 'Very Tough Challenge' Of Hormuz.” 

“Iran does have significant leverage due to geography and capability. At the same time, it is very much in Iran’s interest to keep the strait open, given how much of its economy depends on exports moving through it. Our military posture is important in creating leverage for a diplomatic solution that would allow free and open navigation,” Murrett says.