- Hormuz remains largely closed in response to attacks by the United States and Israel.
- Trump says he ordered a secret mission to support tankers and ships through Hormuz.
- More than 200 commercial ships had passed through the strait: Trump.
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the US military secretly helped 100 million barrels of oil pass through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran largely closed in response to US and Israeli attacks.
“Last month, I ordered our great American military to execute a secret mission to support oil tankers and other commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform, claiming that the United States “controls” the waterway.
“Today I am pleased to announce that this effort has resulted in more than 100 MILLION barrels of oil passing through the Strait and reaching the Open Market,” he said, adding that more than 200 commercial ships had passed through.
The United States began a military operation, called Project Freedom, to escort ships through the strait in early May, but scrapped it just a day later in what Trump described as an attempt to end the war in the Middle East, which Washington and Israel launched on February 28.
US media later reported in May that the effort had resumed, but US Central Command, responsible for US forces in the Middle East, said at the time that reports that the Navy had resumed “escorting or assisting commercial vessels” were false.
