2 US cargo ships have crossed Strait of Hormuz, military says
The U.S. military said Monday two cargo ships have passed through the Strait of Hormuz as the Trump administration seeks to regain control of the critical shipping waterway.
U.S. Central Command confirmed the transit of the two vessels and said Navy guided-missile destroyers are now protecting vessels in the Persian Gulf after transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
News of the safe passage follows Iran’s claims that it struck a U.S. naval ship with two missiles. Central Command denied the reporting and has maintained that military vessels remain free from attacks and have been successful in enforcing the naval blockade in the strait.
Iran has continued to issue threats regarding safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz amid a ceasefire with the U.S. and Israel, posing a challenge to commercial vessels that rely on the choke point for international shipping transit.
About 20 percent of the world’s oil supply passes through the body of water, and the conflict has led to a huge jump in gas prices in the U.S. and around the world. This has given Tehran significant leverage in negotiations with the U.S., even as its military has been battered by American military might.
“Iran’s armed forces, just like in the 40-day war, will not allow passage to American combat forces, and any transit in the Strait of Hormuz will also not be permitted without authorization from Iran’s armed forces,” a military source told Iran’s Tasnim News Agency, a semiofficial outlet associated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to a post on social platform X translated from Persian by the artificial intelligence tool Grok .
Iran has reportedly been charging vessels to travel smoothly through the strait, and multiple ships have said they bypassed the American naval blockade.
During the week of April 20-26, 35 ships traveled through the waterway, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence, a global maritime news company.
The journey still remains risky, and aggregate marine insurance exposure to the Strait of Hormuz crisis sits at around $20 billion for hull war risk and billions of dollars more for cargo, according to multiple market sources cited by Lloyd’s List.
The pause in shipping has driven up the cost of crude oil and energy prices globally.
Talks between the U.S. and Iran have largely been stalled, leaving uncertainty about the conditions of the current ceasefire and slowly fizzling out hope for future long term agreements.
Iran has pushed for the Trump administration to repeal its sanctions, withdraw from the region and encourage a longer ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.
So far, President Trump has rejected the conditions Tehran has proposed for a peace deal while administration officials have argued the official war has been “terminated” in line with the 60-day deadline invoked by the War Powers Act.
A looming clause for Trump’s proposed peace deal remains confirmation that Iran will not pursue efforts to obtain a nuclear weapon, which Tehran has not agreed to do.
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