U.S. military on Tuesday escorted 40 commercial vessels carrying about 18 mln
barrels of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, a wartime high, CNN cited two U.S.
officials. The operation used air, sea and space assets to blunt Iranian attacks
on shipping, repelled multiple drone strikes and intercepted and destroyed an
anti-ship cruise missile, officials said. The action occurred amid a new round
of U.S.-Iran confrontation and aligns with the Trump administration’s priorities
to strike targets near the strait, escort commercial traffic and maintain a
maritime blockade of Iranian ports as part of a broader “maximum pressure”
campaign. Officials do not expect a rapid resolution, and energy firms remain
wary of routing tankers through the strait despite U.S. escorts.
