Washington:
US President Donald Trump has claimed that the American forces secretly transported around 100 million barrels of crude through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been closed by Iran since the start of the Middle East war on February 28. Trump said the US military, under its secret mission, assisted over 200 commercial ships to cross the vital shipping passageway without Tehran’s knowledge.
The narrow waterway connecting the Gulf of Persia to Arabia has been under Iran’s chokehold in retaliation for the US and Israeli attacks. One-fifth of the global oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz.
In a post on Truth Social, he wrote, “Last month, I directed our Great US Military to execute a secret mission to support Oil Tankers and other Commercial Ships through the Strait of Hormuz.”
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“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.”
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Trump Says Iran ‘Unaware’ Of Its Mission
Trump said the United States’ secret mission in Hormuz was carried out without Iran being aware of the operation. During a briefing to reporters in the Oval Office, he said, “You know, I can say it now, something you didn’t know. You know, we’ve been taking out millions of barrels of oil. Nobody knows it.”
“You know who doesn’t know about it? Iran, until right now. We took out the other night 22 ships, late at night with no lights, because they don’t have any radar, because we blasted the crap out of it,” the American President added.
Read: Trump’s “Bomb The S*** Out” Warning, Iran’s “Turn Region Into Hell” Threat
US Mission In Houmuz
The United States began a military operation, dubbed Project Freedom, to escort ships through Hormuz in early May. However, after he did not receive support from allies, Trump scrapped it a day later.
According to US media reports, the US military resumed efforts later in May. But US Central Command said at the time that reports the Navy had resumed “escorting or assisting commercial vessels” were false.
