White House contradicts claim of US Navy escort in Hormuz Strait

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.

US President Donald Trump said on March 3 that the US would provide protection through the Strait for oil tankers. The Pentagon on Tuesday renewed threats to hit Iran harder unless shipments can flow through and said it was striking Iranian mine-laying vessels and mine storage facilities.

Wright then posted on X that the US Navy had escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz “to ensure oil remains flowing to global markets.”

Soon after, he deleted the post for reasons that were unclear.

The United States has not yet escorted any oil tankers or vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters when asked about the issue at a press conference later on Tuesday.

Commenting on Wright’s remarks, a spokesperson for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards denied an oil ship had been escorted.

“Any movement of the US fleet and its allies will be stopped by our missiles and drones,” Ali Mohammad Naini said in comments carried by Iranian state media.

The top US general earlier on Tuesday said the US military has started looking at ways to potentially escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, should it be ordered to do so.

“We’re looking at a range of options there,” General Dan Caine told reporters at the Pentagon.