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.

The International Energy Agency will hold an extraordinary meeting on Tuesday to discuss a possible release of emergency stockpiles.

Oil prices fell after Energy Secretary Chris Wright falsely claimed in a tweet that the U.S. Navy escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz.

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…

The White House clarifies the U.S. has not escorted ships through the Strait of Hormuz, contradicting a deleted Energy Secretary post.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that the U.S. Navy has not escorted any oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.

The U.S. Navy says the risk of attacks is too high for now, according to sources familiar with the matter.

But some vessels are still transiting the strait. Most of the ships still moving are those that operate outside the rules.

The Strait of Hormuz has been effectively closed to shipping because of the war against Iran by the U.S. and Israel.