Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have lifted the limits on American military use of their bases and airspace that the two governments quietly imposed at the start of last week, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing officials in both Gulf capitals and at the Pentagon. The reversal removes a significant operational headache for US Central Command and clears the way for the Trump administration to restart Project Freedom, the naval escort operation that the United States paused on Wednesday for Pakistani-mediated negotiations with Iran.
The original restrictions, which were never publicly announced, took effect after senior administration officials in Washington publicly characterised Iranian attacks on commercial shipping in the Persian Gulf and on the United Arab Emirates as essentially symbolic. Riyadh and Kuwait City regarded the framing as confirmation that Washington was no longer willing to extend the regional security umbrella to allies caught in the fighting, and within forty-eight hours the State Department was notified that overflights for combat sorties would no longer be approved.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman drove the Saudi reversal personally, two officials briefed on the negotiations said, after a series of telephone calls with Vice-President JD Vance and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Crown Prince had publicly condemned Iran's May 5 strike on Kuwait "in the strongest terms", and was understood to want to align Saudi public posture with practical co-operation. Kuwait followed roughly twelve hours later.
Project Freedom, the convoy operation through which US Navy destroyers escort commercial tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, was suspended on Wednesday morning when Trump publicly paused the mission to give Iran "space" to respond to the latest American ceasefire proposal. Central Command said on Saturday that the operation would resume on Sunday, with the first westbound convoy departing Khor Fakkan at first light and using Saudi airspace for top-cover.
The State Department welcomed the Gulf reversal in a short statement on Saturday morning, calling it "a return to the operational arrangements that have underpinned regional security for forty years". Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in a post on X, called it "another reckless choice by Riyadh that the Iranian people will not forget". Tehran has not yet formally responded to the latest American ceasefire proposal, although diplomats in Islamabad said a written reply was expected before the weekend was out.