US says it is ‘not ready’ to escort oil tankers through Strait of Hormuz

The United States military is “not ready” to escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz as its resources are focused on the operations against Iran, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC on Thursday.

Speaking to the TV channel, Wright said that the US Navy would begin escorting tankers through the strategic waterway “relatively soon”, likely by the end of the month.

“All of our military assets right now are focused on destroying Iran’s offensive capabilities and the manufacturing industry that supplies their offensive capabilities,” the official said.

Wright’s comments came two days after he incorrectly claimed on social media that the US Navy had escorted a tanker through the strait. While the post was later deleted, global oil prices briefly dropped following the claim, CNBC reported.

Hours after his statement, the White House said that the US military had not yet escorted any commercial ships through the strait.

Responding to the claim, a spokesperson for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps denied that any oil tanker had been escorted through the strait. “Any movement of the US fleet and its allies will be stopped by our missiles and drones,” spokesperson Ali Mohammad Naini said in remarks carried by Iranian state media.

On March 3, US President Donald Trump said that Washington would provide protection for oil tankers passing through the Strait...

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