Rubio Says Project Freedom Aims To Rescue 23,000 Sailors

WASHINGTON. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Project Freedom is meant to rescue almost 23,000 civilians from 87 countries who he said have been trapped in the Persian Gulf by Iran's blockade, turning the administration's Strait of Hormuz operation into a humanitarian argument as well as a freedom of navigation mission.

Rubio made the remarks during a White House briefing clip circulated Tuesday. A White House or State Department transcript for the exchange was not located during research, so this article attributes Rubio's wording to the local transcript of the public clip and notes two obvious ASR corrections where the context clearly refers to potable water and the Strait of Hormuz.

"The goal of it is to rescue almost 23,000 civilians from 87 different countries that are trapped inside of the Gulf and left for dead in the Persian Gulf by this Iranian regime," Rubio said, according to the local transcript.

He said the stranded crews include commercial sailors from countries that are not engaged in the military confrontation. "For more than two months now, these innocent sailors and commercial crew members have been stranded out at sea," Rubio said.

What Happened

Rubio's comments came after U.S. Central Command said its forces would begin supporting Project Freedom on May 4 to restore freedom of navigation for commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM said the mission, directed by President Donald Trump, would support merchant vessels seeking to transit the essential international trade corridor.

CENTCOM said the support package includes guided missile destroyers, more than 100 land and sea based aircraft, multi-domain unmanned platforms and 15,000 service members. Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander, said in the release that U.S. support for the defensive mission is essential to regional security and the global economy while the United States maintains a naval blockade.

Rubio framed the operation around civilian crews. He said ships trapped for weeks begin running out of food, potable water and essential supplies. He also said at least 10 civilian sailors had already died, a claim this article attributes to Rubio because a separate official document independently verifying that death count was not found during research.

Photo by U.S. Navy, via Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

The Rescue Argument

Rubio said the United States was asked by other nations to help free their ships and restore freedom of navigation. He said some governments made those requests privately and others publicly, though the local transcript did not name the governments.

"President Trump, as he always does, stepped up and answered the calls for their help," Rubio said, according to the transcript. He said Trump directed the U.S. military to "guide these stranded ships to safety" and "provide a protective bubble under which they can operate."

The Defense Department's official transcript of a separate briefing by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine gave a similar operational frame. Hegseth said Project Freedom is "defensive in nature, focused in scope and temporary in duration" and has one mission, "protecting innocent commercial shipping from Iranian aggression."

Caine said there were 22,500 mariners aboard more than 1,550 commercial vessels trapped in the Arabian Gulf and unable to transit. He said CENTCOM had established an enhanced security area on the southern side of the Strait protected by U.S. land, naval and air assets.

The Response

Administration officials argue the mission is a defensive answer to Iranian coercion in a chokepoint used by ships from many countries. Rubio called the blockade "piracy" and said Iran was holding innocent bystanders hostage because it could.

Hegseth said Iran had been harassing civilian vessels, threatening mariners and trying to impose a tolling system. He said two U.S. commercial ships had already safely transited the Strait with American destroyers.

Iran's government has previously treated U.S. military activity in the Gulf as an escalation and has opposed American sanctions and naval pressure. No official Iranian response specific to Rubio's rescue remarks was located in the primary-source file for this brief, so this article does not attribute a new Tehran statement beyond the administration's description of Iran's conduct.

Economic Implications

The Energy Information Administration says the Strait of Hormuz is the world's most important oil chokepoint. EIA analysis says oil flows through the Strait averaged 21 million barrels per day in 2022, equal to about 21 percent of global petroleum liquids consumption.

EIA also says flows through Hormuz in 2022 and the first half of 2023 accounted for more than one quarter of total global seaborne traded oil. Around one fifth of global liquefied natural gas trade also moved through the Strait in 2022, according to EIA.

That is the mechanism behind the administration's focus on commercial shipping. EIA says chokepoint disruptions can create supply delays, raise shipping costs and increase world energy prices, including for Americans exposed to global crude benchmarks and refined fuel costs.

By The Numbers

Rubio said Project Freedom is meant to rescue almost 23,000 civilians from 87 countries.

Caine said more than 1,550 commercial vessels and 22,500 mariners were trapped in the Arabian Gulf and unable to transit.

CENTCOM said Project Freedom support includes 15,000 U.S. service members, guided missile destroyers, more than 100 aircraft and unmanned platforms.

EIA said 21 million barrels per day of oil flowed through Hormuz in 2022, about 21 percent of global petroleum liquids consumption.

What People Are Saying

"The goal of it is to rescue almost 23,000 civilians from 87 different countries," Rubio said, according to the local transcript.

"For more than two months now, these innocent sailors and commercial crew members have been stranded out at sea," Rubio said.

"Our support for this defensive mission is essential to regional security and the global economy as we also maintain the naval blockade," Cooper said in CENTCOM's release.

"Project Freedom is defensive in nature, focused in scope and temporary in duration, with one mission: protecting innocent commercial shipping from Iranian aggression," Hegseth said in the Defense Department transcript.

The Big Picture

Rubio's remarks add a human stakes argument to the administration's Hormuz strategy. The White House is not only saying that Iran's blockade threatens trade lanes and energy prices. It is also saying thousands of civilian mariners from dozens of countries are physically trapped and need a U.S.-led security corridor to leave.

The next signs to watch are additional CENTCOM transit updates, any official Iranian response, shipping insurance costs and energy price moves tied to the Strait. For now, the administration's case is that Project Freedom protects commercial crews, restores navigation through a critical waterway and keeps a regional confrontation from imposing broader costs on global trade.