Hassett says Navy reopens Strait of Hormuz, crude flows freely again
The announcement follows weeks of tanker strikes and a US military buildup after Trump rejected Iran's latest ceasefire offer
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Map: The Gulf and Hormuz, marking Strait of Hormuz
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's deputy, Kevin Hassett, says the Navy has reopened the Strait of Hormuz and that crude oil is moving through it freely again. It is the first unconditional statement of its kind after weeks in which proposals were floated and rejected, deadlines passed, and tankers came under attack.
The United States had reinforced its forces near the strait after President Trump rejected Iran's latest ceasefire offer. That buildup followed a tanker strike in the strait that Iran blamed on UAE-linked vessels. Mediators had said days earlier that a deal trading free transit through the strait for an eased blockade was gaining ground.
A tanker was hit by an unknown projectile in the strait and caught fire, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations. Iran's Persian Gulf Shipping Authority said several tankers were struck, with the last three tied to the UAE, and said the strikes came after mediators had reported progress on the transit-for-blockade deal.
If the Navy has in fact restored free passage, rather than the partial, escorted transit described through late September, it would be a sharper break from the pattern than the earlier mediator-reported progress, which still left strikes on UAE-linked tankers days later. The announcement points toward easing the risk premium that has kept crude oil elevated through months of intermittent blockade and escalation, though previous claimed breakthroughs have collapsed, and transit volumes have yet to confirm this one.