The U.S. military provided a convoy for 40 commercial ships, which were carrying a total of 18 million barrels of oil, as they passed through the Strait of Hormuz, in the largest operation of its kind since the start of the war, during which attacks on Iranian targets also took place, two U.S. officials familiar with the operations told CNN.
About six months ago, before the conflicts in the Middle East had begun, approximately 20 million barrels of oil passed through the Strait daily.
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According to officials cited by the news agency, the U.S. employed a wide range of air, sea, and space assets to continue striking at Iran’s capabilities to attack commercial vessels and, at the same time, to repel successive waves of drone attacks during the high-risk escort mission.
U.S. forces also neutralized cruise missiles fired at ships, the senior official added.
Washington’s Priority: the Strait
This development comes as the U.S. has adjusted its war strategy, prioritizing strikes against targets around the Strait of Hormuz, to escort commercial ships, and to maintain a naval blockade of Iranian ports.
These moves are part of the Trump administration’s broader campaign to increase economic pressure on the Iranian regime’s leadership.
Despite the success of Tuesday’s operation, U.S. officials do not believe a solution to the conflict is in sight, while energy companies continue to view the risks of sending their ships through the Strait with great caution, even with a military escort.
At the same time, energy prices remain high, causing turmoil in the global bond market.
Other stated priorities of Donald Trump, including efforts to dismantle parts of Iran’s nuclear program, have for the time being essentially taken a back seat, according to the top official. As he reiterated, U.S. Central Command has been ordered to focus all its efforts on the Strait and on preventing oil shipments from entering or leaving Iranian ports.
Trump himself has recently hinted that he accepts the possibility that Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium will remain buried, which was not completely destroyed by U.S. strikes last summer on three key nuclear facilities, and to monitor it via satellite imagery. This comes despite the fact that it had previously insisted that securing this material was a top priority in the current conflict.
Strikes on Nearly 60 Military Targets
On Tuesday, the U.S. carried out a multifaceted operation as part of its new strategy, striking nearly 60 military targets around the Strait while simultaneously escorting commercial ships.
The targets included air defense installations, radar systems, naval assets, mine-laying capabilities, and communications infrastructure.
The U.S. military is expected to continue offensive strikes near the Strait, partly because Iran has demonstrated that it can rebuild its military capabilities, a fact that requires ongoing operations to neutralize them, the second official said. He likened the operations to “mowing the lawn” or to an ongoing game in which the U.S. neutralizes every new threat that emerges, with the aim of continuously limiting Iran’s ability to threaten commercial ships.
Gradually limiting Iran’s
bargaining chips These strikes are a critical part of the broader U.S. strategy to systematically weaken Iran’s ability to use the Strait of as a lever for exerting pressure. At the same time, the U.S. blockade has prevented Iran from exporting any oil since July, according to the second U.S. official.
Donald Trump stated on Wednesday that the latest round of U.S. strikes was not limited to Iran’s radar systems, but was intended to eliminate its ability to track ships passing through the Strait. “They were trying to track ships,” he said from the Oval Office. “They can’t see them because they no longer have radar—we blew it up. And last night we blew up many more of their radars.”
Trump did not specify which other targets were hit, but he insisted that the U.S. maintains control of the Straits and has proven that it can both strike Iranian infrastructure along the coastline and protect ships from incoming attacks.
It remains unclear, however, whether these multifaceted military operations will ultimately force Iran to back down and—even if that happens—how long it will take.
Bessent: Record Exports Amid War
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, noted earlier this week the increase in oil shipments passing through the Strait amid the latest escalation in relations between Washington and Tehran.
Speaking to CNBC, he noted that on Monday, exports exceeded 17 million barrels per day, setting a record for the war period. “This is not Iranian control of the Strait,” Bessent emphasized.
U.S. officials have told CNN that they believe the Strait’s value as a strategic weapon for Iran is diminishing, citing recent developments as evidence of this assessment.
Iran, however, likely still views its ability to disrupt shipping—through credible threats against commercial vessels—as an important lever of pressure. At the same time, shipping companies remain skeptical about whether the U.S. can implement a viable and stable protection system.
Ships
with Transponders Turned Off Officials in the Trump administration insist that more oil passes through the Strait than is publicly reported, as ships are increasingly turning off their transponders to avoid detection.
Most, if not all, of the 40 commercial ships that crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday had turned off their transponders, according to the senior official.
In August, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright had claimed that, for a time, oil exports from the Middle East had returned to pre-war levels.
Doubts About “Full Control”
Despite weeks of coordinated operations to take control of the Straits, the U.S. government continues to face intense skepticism from shipping industry executives and analysts.
Critics argue that the U.S. has not yet demonstrated that it can consistently back up its claims of “full control” over the sea lane. “We can safely say that the government has not earned much credibility,” said a person familiar with market conditions. He added that, even if the daily increases in shipping volume are real, “I don’t know anyone who believes the average is that high.”
For now, commercial shipping companies that choose to transit the Strait are making those decisions on a case-by-case basis, according to two sources familiar with the situation.
The daily charter cost of an oil tanker to transit the Strait has also skyrocketed. Some estimates put it at more than $500,000, offering a strong financial incentive to companies willing to take the risk.
The shipping industry, however, continues to demand greater security guarantees. The cost of insuring ships, which rose sharply with the outbreak of the war, remains high, making it even more difficult for companies to make projections. At the same time, ongoing reports of Iranian attacks on ships act as a deterrent, even when the attacks fail.
Greater Risk for LNG
Carriers Oil is just one of the types of energy cargo transported through the Strait. Tankers carrying other energy sources, primarily liquefied natural gas (LNG), are even more cautious.
This is due to the potentially catastrophic consequences of an attack on an LNG carrier by an Iranian drone, mine, or missile, according to a senior official familiar with ongoing U.S. military operations around Iran.
Some U.S. officials acknowledge that it will take time and persistence for the U.S. military to complete its list of targets at Iranian military facilities near the Strait. Part of this capability has been rebuilt, at least in part, during the recent lull in hostilities.
At the same time, the U.S. must convince the shipping industry that passage is safe. This requires consistent escort operations, such as the one on Tuesday, during which U.S. forces guide commercial ships through a maritime corridor that has been cleared of mines.
By next month, the U.S. military hopes to widen this corridor so that ships can navigate with greater freedom. The goal is to gradually increase the amount of oil transported through the Strait.
According to CNN’s findings, the commercial ships that passed through the Strait on Tuesday in both directions flew the flags of various countries, from Saudi Arabia to France.
