NYT Report: US Secretly Guides Ships Through Strait of Hormuz

By Staff, Agencies

The United States military has been covertly coordinating the passage of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz in recent weeks, The New York Times reported Sunday, citing officials familiar with the matter.

Iran restricted access to the Strait of Hormuz for ships from “hostile countries” after US-"Israeli" airstrikes on February 28, later allowing passage for others under conditions, while a brief US escort plan for merchant vessels was quickly dropped in April amid regional pushback.

According to the Times, US Central Command [CENTCOM] has coordinated the passage of around 70 commercial vessels through the waterway over the past three weeks.

An official told the newspaper that most of the vessels had turned off their transponders to avoid detection by Iranian forces. The ships reportedly used a shipping lane closer to the Omani coast.

Despite the ceasefire reached on April 8, traffic through the strategic chokepoint remains severely reduced, having fallen from around 150 vessels per day before the conflict to fewer than ten.

Tens of thousands of sailors aboard between 1,600 and 2,000 vessels, including oil and gas tankers, remain stranded in the Gulf.

In April, the US imposed a blockade on Iranian ports and has since intercepted more than 100 cargo ships. On Sunday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards said that 28 vessels had passed through the strait over the previous 24 hours after obtaining permission.