United States President Donald Trump has disclosed that he secretly directed the American military last month to escort oil tankers and commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, claiming the operation resulted in more than 100m barrels of oil reaching global markets.
“Last month, I directed our Great U.S. Military to execute a secret mission to support oil tankers and other commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz. Today, I am pleased to announce that this effort has resulted in more than 100 million barrels of oil making its way through the strait, and into the open market,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Wednesday.
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that 22 ships were moved through the strait late at night without lights. “You know who doesn’t know about it? Iran, until right now,” he said, adding that the clandestine oil flows were one of the reasons crude prices remained below $100 per barrel.
The operation, dubbed Project Freedom, involved escorting ships through the strait, which Iran largely closed in response to US and Israeli attacks.
The United States had briefly launched a similar escorting operation in early May but scrapped it after just a day as part of efforts to end the broader Middle East war.
Trump claimed the success of the mission proved American dominance over the waterway.
“This wildly successful effort is because the United States of America controls the Strait of Hormuz — not Iran. Their military is defeated, and their economy is lost. It’s over for Iran,” he said.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright had said on Tuesday that oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz were “rising very meaningfully” without elaborating further.
Dozens of ships previously stranded in the Persian Gulf have exited through the strait in recent weeks amid quiet coordination with the U.S. military.
The Strait of Hormuz is a critical global chokepoint through which approximately 21 million barrels of oil, or about 20 per cent of the world’s daily consumption, normally flows.
After the U.S. military struck Iran on 28 February, maritime traffic in the strait dropped by 70 per cent, triggering an immediate surge in global oil prices.
(The Whistler)