US President Donald Trump has pledged the ‘free flow’ of energy through the strait, a goal that has yet to be accomplished.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright has posted, then deleted, a claim that the United States military provided protection for an oil tanker travelling through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for the global energy trade.
On Tuesday, Wright sent out a social media post at 1:02pm US Eastern time (17:00 GMT) making the assertion. But within about a half hour, the post disappeared.
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More than 20 percent of the world’s oil travels through the strait, a narrow maritime passage between Iran, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.
But since the US and Israel launched a war against Israel on February 28, trade through Hormuz has come to a standstill amid fears of Iranian strikes.
Initially, Wright had reported that a tanker had passed through the strait with the help of the US military, and he praised the administration of US President Donald Trump for the alleged intervention.
“President Trump is maintaining stability of global energy during the military operations against Iran,” Wright wrote.
“The U.S. Navy successfully escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz to ensure oil remains flowing to global markets.”
But the post was swiftly deleted with no explanation.
Free travel through the Strait of Hormuz has been a point of concern for the Trump administration, which pledged US assistance for the global shipping operations that have been affected.
On March 3, four days into the war, Trump posted on his platform Truth Social that the US Development Finance Corporation, a federal agency, would offer “political risk insurance and guarantees” for vessels travelling through Hormuz at a “very reasonable price”.
He added that military support may also be available.
“If necessary, the United States Navy will begin escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, as soon as possible,” Trump wrote. “No matter what, the United States will ensure the FREE FLOW of ENERGY to the WORLD.”
But it is unclear how effective his administration would be in protecting vessels passing through the strait, given the waterway’s proximity to Iran and Tehran’s pledge to shut down the waterway.
General Dan Caine, the head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, also signalled on Tuesday that the US military had yet to begin any operations to protect oil tankers in the strait, appearing to contradict Wright’s now-deleted post.
“If tasked to escort, we’ll look at the range of options to set the military conditions to be able to do that,” Caine said in a statement.
The inability to move oil through the Strait of Hormuz has been credited with causing oil prices to skyrocket, heightening public backlash across the globe.
On Tuesday, the American Automobile Association, known as AAA, found that the average price of oil in the US had jumped to $3.54 per gallon (94 cents per litre), up nearly 43 cents from the previous week.
The war with Iran is seen as widely unpopular in the US, with poll after poll indicating it has one of the lowest initial rates of support of any foreign conflict the US has entered in recent history.
Quinnipiac University released a survey on Monday that found 53 percent of US voters opposed military action against Iran. A poll from Reuters-Ipsos last week found an even higher percentage of disapproval, at 60 percent.
