# ‘One step away from war’: Trump launches Project Freedom to open the Strait of Hormuz Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/iran-the-latest-6656846/one-step-away-from-war-trump-launches-project-freedom-to-open-the-strait-of-hormuz Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/iran-the-latest-6656846/one-step-away-from-war-trump-launches-project-freedom-to-open-the-strait-of-hormuz.md Podcast: [Iran: The Latest](https://stenobird.com/podcast/iran-the-latest-6656846) Published: 2026-05-05T15:34:48+00:00 Episode link: https://shows.acast.com/battle-lines-israel-gaza/episodes/why-trumps-project-freedom-will-fail-without-more-force Audio file: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/6583019ebbd71a00175001c8/e/69fa02b31353c87e11ce1791/media.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/iran-the-latest-6656846/episodes/one-step-away-from-war-trump-launches-project-freedom-to-open-the-strait-of-hormuz Duration seconds: 1708 ## Resource Is the US-Iran war about to restart amid escalating tensions in the Strait of Hormuz? Donald Trump has launched Project Freedom - a US Navy mission to break the Iranian blockade imposed since the beginning of the war. However, while the White House has framed the escort of neutral vessels as a “humanitarian gesture”, Tehran sees it as an escalation. Iran has fired missiles and drones at ships and an oil port in the UAE, and today says it is “just getting started”.  Roland Oliphant and chief foreign affairs commentator David Blair discuss the latest updates and why both sides are now likely locked in a downward spiral, putting us “one step” away from renewed all-out fighting.  Plus, former US Navy submariner Bryan Clark, director of the Center for Defense Concepts and Technology at the Hudson Institute, explains why America must put more force into the Strait of Hormuz if it wants to win against a patient enemy like Iran. He also talks through Iran’s remaining naval capabilities, from midget subs to fast boats.  Highlights Why Trump’s Project Freedom will fail without more force An ex-US Navy submariner on what it will take to reopen the Strait of Hormuz CONTRIBUTORS: Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphant David Blair, chief foreign affairs commentator @davidblairdt Bryan Clark, senior fellow Hudson Institute @clarkdefense CONTENT REFERENCED: Trump has finally realised he must seize the Strait of Hormuz https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/04/trump-finally-realised-seize-the-strait-of-hormuz/ Producer: Peter Shevlin Executive Producers: Venetia Rainey & Louisa Wells ► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morn… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/iran-the-latest-6656846/episodes/one-step-away-from-war-trump-launches-project-freedom-to-open-the-strait-of-hormuz/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/iran-the-latest-6656846/one-step-away-from-war-trump-launches-project-freedom-to-open-the-strait-of-hormuz.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.