U.S. Military Escorted 40 Merchant Ships Carrying 18 Million Barrels of Oil Through Strait of Hormuz

About 40 merchant ships carrying 18 million barrels of crude reportedly passed through the Strait of Hormuz under U.S. military escort as American and Iranian forces exchanged airstrikes.

CNN, citing two U.S. officials familiar with the operation, said U.S. forces escorted the ships through the strait on the 1st. The operation was described as one of the largest wartime escort missions conducted by the U.S. military.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC that more than 17 million barrels of crude passed through the waterway on July 31. Before the Iran war began in late February, the daily average stood at about 20 million barrels, meaning recent traffic approached 90% of the earlier level. Most of the merchant ships that crossed under escort on the 1st reportedly switched off their transponders to avoid detection. The administration has argued that actual oil flows could exceed publicly visible figures as more ships disable tracking devices.

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Iran is losing its ability to hold the global economy hostage.

The U.S. military also reportedly struck about 60 Iranian military targets around the strait. The targets included air-defense facilities, radar systems, maritime assets, mine-laying capabilities and communications facilities. U.S. officials said American forces defended the escorted ships from Iranian drone attacks and neutralized anti-ship cruise missiles.

President Donald Trump said the recent strikes aimed not only to destroy Iranian radar systems but also to eliminate Iran’s ability to track vessels moving through the strait. “They try to see the ships, but they could not because we blew up the radar,” he said. Another U.S. official claimed Iran had exported no oil since July, although CNN reported that Tehran still retained the ability to disrupt shipping by threatening merchant vessels.

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They try to see the ships, but they could not because we blew up the radar.