President Trump claimed Wednesday that the Strait of Hormuz, where shipping traffic has been stymied for nearly two weeks amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, was in “great shape” despite growing concern about the effect of a prolonged blockade on global oil markets.
“The straits are in great shape,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews. “We’ve knocked out all of their boats. They have some missiles, but not very many. I think we’re in very good … we’re in very good shape.”
The narrow channel between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, where about a fifth of the world’s oil supply flows through, has been effectively closed since the start of the military operation due to repeated Iranian threats against vessels attempting to transit the strait.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has maintained that it will not allow “even a single liter of oil” to pass through until U.S. and Israeli strikes cease.
Trump’s threats to ramp up attacks on Iran if the passage remains closed have so far proven ineffective, and the U.S. has yet to follow through on sending Navy ships to escort tankers through the straits.
Three cargo ships were struck by unknown projectiles in the Gulf on Wednesday, bringing the number of reported attacks against vessels operating near the Iranian coast to 16, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).
A day earlier, U.S. Central Command (Centcom) said American forces had destroyed 16 mine-laying vessels in the strait.
“They are pretty much at the end of the line,” Trump boasted on Wednesday, referring to Iran. “Doesn’t mean we’re going to end it immediately, but they are. They’ve got no navy, they’ve got no air force, they’ve got no anti-air traffic anything. They have no systems of control.”
“We’re just riding free range over that country,” he added.
The disruption in oil exports has rocked global markets, pushing crude oil prices back over $100 per barrel overnight before cooling slightly on Thursday morning. Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, stood at about $98 per barrel as of 8 a.m. EDT.
The U.S. announced on Wednesday that it would release 172 million barrels of oil from its strategic reserves in a bid to bring down prices and assuage broader economic fears. It came hours after the International Energy Agency (IEA) said its members would collectively release 400 million barrels of oil.
Mixed messages about how long the conflict could last have also injected uncertainty into the market. The Pentagon and Israeli officials have vowed to continue bombarding Tehran until their nuclear and missile capabilities are eradicated, even as Trump has signaled several times this week that the operation was nearing its end.
“The main thing is we have to win this,” Trump said. “Most people say it’s already been won. It’s just a question of when. When do we stop? We don’t want to let it regrow, and ideally would like to see somebody in there that knows what they’re doing.”
The president also warned Wednesday that the U.S. could dismantle key infrastructure inside Iran if it decides to escalate further.
“We can hit sections of Tehran and other places that if you do it, it’ll be almost impossible for them to rebuild their country, and we don’t want that. But we can hit electric … we could take apart their electric capacity within one hour, and it would take them 25 years to rebuild it. So ideally, we’re not going to be doing that,” Trump said.
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