US energy secretary deletes navy escorting tanker post
The US military has yet to escort any commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, the White House said, just after US Energy Secretary Chris Wright deleted a post on X that said the US Navy had successfully escorted an oil tanker through the key waterway.
The U.S.-Israeli war against Iran has effectively halted shipments via the Bosphorus along the Iranian coast, through which a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas normally pass and where Middle East oil producers have stopped pumping as their tanks run out.
US President Donald Trump said on March 3 that the US would provide protection to oil tankers through the Bosphorus.
The Pentagon on Tuesday repeated its threat to hit Iran harder if the shipments fail to pass, saying it would hit Iran’s mine-laying ships and mine storage facilities.
Wright later shared on X that the US Navy was escorting an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz “to ensure oil continues to flow to global markets.”
Shortly after, she deleted the post for unclear reasons.
When asked about the issue at a news conference later Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the United States has not yet escorted any oil tankers or ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Commenting on Wright’s remarks, a spokesman for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard denied that an oil ship had been escorted.
“Any movement of the US fleet and its allies will be stopped by our missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles,” Ali Mohammad Naini said in his comments published in Iranian state media.
The US military has begun exploring ways to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz if ordered to do so, the top US general said early Tuesday.
“We’re looking at a number of options here,” Gen. Dan Caine told reporters at the Pentagon.
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