WASHINGTON: The US military has not yet escorted any commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, the White House said on Tuesday, just after US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright deleted a post on X in which he had said the US Navy successfully escorted an oil tanker through the key waterway.
The US-Israel war against Iran has already effectively halted shipments through the Strait along Iran’s coast, where a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas normally passes, and Middle East oil producers have run out of storage and stopped pumping.
US President Donald Trump said on March 3 that the US would provide protection through the Strait for oil tankers. The Pentagon on Tuesday renewed threats to hit Iran harder unless shipments can flow through and said it was striking Iranian mine-laying vessels and mine storage facilities.
Wright then posted on X that the US Navy had escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz “to ensure oil remains flowing to global markets.”
Soon after, he deleted the post for reasons that were unclear.
