Washington: The United States military has not yet escorted any commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, the White House said on Tuesday, shortly after US Energy Secretary Chris Wright deleted a social media post claiming that the United States Navy had successfully escorted an oil tanker through the key waterway.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that no such escort operation had yet taken place.
The development comes amid the ongoing conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran, which has significantly disrupted maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz — a vital route through which around one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas shipments normally pass.
Reports indicate that oil shipments through the Strait along Iran’s coast have largely halted, while some Middle Eastern producers have reportedly run out of storage capacity and suspended pumping operations.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump had said that Washington would provide protection for oil tankers passing through the strategic waterway.
The United States Department of Defense also warned that it could intensify strikes against Iran if maritime shipments were not allowed to resume normally, adding that US forces were targeting Iranian vessels involved in laying naval mines as well as facilities used to store them.
Energy Secretary Wright had earlier posted on X that the US Navy had escorted an oil tanker through the Strait to ensure global oil supplies continued flowing. However, the post was later removed without explanation.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps denied that any oil tanker had been escorted through the Strait by US forces.
According to Iranian state media, Ali Mohammad Naini warned that any movement by US naval forces or their allies in the area would be targeted by Iranian missiles and drones.
Earlier in the day, Dan Caine said the US military was assessing options to potentially escort commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz if directed to do so by the government.