Earlier, US media outlet Axios reported that the operation was not co-ordinated with authorities in Tehran.
“We’re now starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform, calling it “a favour” to countries such as China, Japan and France that “don’t have the Courage or Will to do this work themselves”.
The Strait of Hormuz is a critical chokepoint for global energy supply. Photo /Copernicus Sentinel Data 2025
He insisted that Iran is “LOSING BIG!” in the conflict, while acknowledging that Iranian mines in the strategic strait still pose a threat.
“The only thing they have going is the threat that a ship may ‘bunk’ into one of their sea mines,” Trump wrote.
The key shipping lane off the coast of Iran has been virtually blocked by Tehran since the US and Israel started bombing Iran on February 28, though reopening the strait was ostensibly a condition of the shaky ceasefire put in place this week.
Senior Iranian and American officials held face-to-face negotiations in Pakistan in a bid to bring an end to a conflict that has plunged the Middle East into violence and sent shockwaves through the world economy.
In an earlier post, Trump said that empty tankers were headed to the US from around the world to purchase oil, without providing details.
– Agence France-Presse