by Kevin Killough
The U.S. military’s assistance of oil tankers has allowed more than 660 million barrels of crude oil to pass through the Strait of Hormuz since early May.
Approximately 1,300 vessels have sailed through the strait with the U.S. military’s assistance in that time, U.S. Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, a Central Command spokesperson, told CNBC.
CENTCOM said at the end of July it had helped 1,000 vessels and 500 million barrels of oil to pass through the strait, which means that 160 million barrels have been transported through the blockaded waterway in the past three weeks.
While the shipments help supply global markets and mitigate energy price shocks, they still don’t quite match the 20 million barrels of oil per day that flowed prior to the war in Iran.
This week, President Donald Trump warned Iran about an “economic D-Day” for Iran.
“No one has given the Islamic Republic of Iran a greater opportunity to make a Deal than me. TRAGICALLY, for them, they have failed to take it,” Trump said on Truth Social.
“This will be Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale. Their navy is gone, their air force is destroyed, their military factories are now rubble, their currency is worthless, and their country is hanging by a thread,” he added.
Seyed Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, in response, said, ” The so-called ‘Economic D-Day’ is a diversion from America’s own crisis: unprecedented debt & surging interest costs.Doubling down on failed policies will only bring further defeat—and enmity of Iranians. US economic terrorism threatens global economy and sovereignty worldwide.”
– – –
Kevin Killough is a reporter for Just the News. Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
