Washington: US President Donald Trump claimed the United States had secretly conducted military operations in and around the Strait of Hormuz for weeks, moving ships and oil cargoes through the strategic waterway while targeting Iranian maritime assets ahead of a proposed agreement with Tehran.
Speaking at the White House, Trump said the operations had taken place largely out of public view and helped maintain the flow of global energy supplies despite heightened tensions in the Gulf.
“The Strait will open as soon as we have it signed,” Trump said, referring to a proposed agreement with Iran. “Maybe it’ll be Saturday or Monday.”
He then asserted that US forces had already been operating extensively in the area.
“The Straits have been open for a number of months already, and you just didn’t know about it,” Trump told reporters. “We brought many, many ships across and millions, hundreds of millions of barrels of oil were brought across, and there wasn’t a thing that anybody could have done about that.”
Trump claimed US military forces had conducted repeated operations against Iranian vessels during the past month.
“Over the last month, we’ve been taking out ships,” he said. “Some nights, 25 ships, some nights, 15.”
He said the operations were carried out at night and targeted radar systems and maritime assets.
“We bombed their radar and everything so they couldn’t see what was going on,” Trump said.
The President argued that these actions helped explain why global oil markets had remained relatively stable despite fears of disruption in one of the world’s most important energy corridors.
“That’s why oil, even before this, the market couldn’t understand why it was so free,” he said.
Trump indicated that the maritime restrictions linked to the conflict would be lifted once the proposed agreement with Iran is formally signed.
Asked whether the United States would immediately remove the blockade after a deal is completed, Trump replied: “Yes that’s true it’s part of the deal.”
The Strait of Hormuz connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. It is a vital route for oil and liquefied natural gas exports from major producers including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Iraq and Qatar.
Trump said the proposed agreement with Iran would bring greater stability to the region and help reduce uncertainty surrounding maritime trade.
“We have a deal that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon,” he said, describing the understanding as a major diplomatic breakthrough.
(IANS)
