US says 40 vessels sought military escort crossing Hormuz
About 60 commercial vessels transited the strait on Wednesday, the highest crude volume since early July.
Published
Map: The Gulf and Hormuz, marking Strait of Hormuz
A US defense official says roughly 40 of the vessels that crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday coordinated with the US military for protection during the transit.
That coordination came out of a total of about 60 commercial vessels that moved through the strait that day, the highest crude volume to pass through since early July.
Washington and Tehran have been discussing a phased deal to lift the US blockade and reopen the strait, but the US has rejected a separate Iranian proposal on reopening. Iran says the strait stays closed until the US agrees to a safe route worked out with Oman, and its security council has given Washington a four to five day deadline. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the US will keep the strait open. Iran's security chief maintains it stays shut until Tehran's conditions are met, and security council secretary Ali Rezaei has warned that further US escalation could open a second front at the Bab el-Mandeb strait. China's foreign minister has called for dialogue on the dispute as Xi Jinping arrived in the United States for talks with President Trump.
The scale of Wednesday's military coordination shows the strait remains functionally closed even as crude traffic through it climbs to its highest level in months. Iran is demanding an immediate end to the blockade and the release of frozen assets before it will reopen the route, while the US has floated alternatives such as a $10 billion fund to bypass the strait rather than meet those terms. The underlying standoff is unresolved, even as ships keep moving through it.