White House says US has momentum with Strait of Hormuz
WASHINGTON (TNND) — It has been six months since the United States first launched strikes on Iran in late February, opening a conflict that has settled into a military standstill since the end of July. Now, the Trump administration says momentum is on its side as it pushes toward what officials hope is the war’s final stage, even as energy and shipping companies remain skeptical about safety in the Strait of Hormuz.
The strait is open, as you know, the Strait of Hormuz is open. We have control and we have the blockade,” President Trump said Thursday. “Iran’s not getting anything. Nothing is going through. Not one ship has gotten through.”
Control of the Strait of Hormuz has emerged as the central battleground of the war. Iran’s ability to close the waterway or disrupt oil shipping through attacks sent energy prices soaring worldwide. Six months in, the national average gas price for Americans sits at more than $4 a gallon, over a dollar higher than it was on the day of the first U.S. strike.
The Trump administration says the strait has now been cleared of the underwater mines that made passage dangerous for tankers.
The circumstances were challenging and dangerous to say the least, but we got the job done,” said Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command. “The bottom line is, today, international shipping lanes are open and momentum is building.”
It isn’t the first time the administration has made that claim. An August 18 post on Truth Social declared that “all water mines have been removed or detonated,” and the president made similar remarks to reporters on August 10.
Despite the administration’s assurances, shipping data tells a more cautious story. The weekly average for shipping traffic through the strait last week was just five vessels — compared to roughly 100 ships before the war began.
I think the ultimate arbiter of whether the strait is open or not is whether the captain of the vessel is willing to go through it,” said Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates.
White House says US has momentum with Strait of Hormuz (TNND)
Lipow is skeptical that traffic is truly flowing freely through the strait, but says any sign of momentum is still a positive development.
“I think this is good news for the oil market in general, because we have been relying on drawdowns of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, as well as commercial inventories, and we just simply cannot do that forever with the Strait of Hormuz either restricted or closed,” Lipow said.
With the military standoff largely frozen, the White House has shifted focus to economic pressure, imposing sanctions on Iran while warning other nations against supporting Tehran’s regime.
On Friday, Iran’s foreign ministry called on countries around the world not to comply with the U.S. sanctions, while also signaling that a return to diplomacy isn’t off the table. Mediators are continuing efforts to revive peace talks between the two sides.