U.S. forces have helped escort more than one billion barrels of crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz in recent months, while Iran has shipped no oil through the waterway under what Washington calls an “ironclad blockade,” U.S. Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper said Saturday.
Cooper said the milestone was reached as American forces coordinated protection for more than 2,000 commercial vessels traveling through the strategically vital passage.
“Clearly, momentum is building,” Cooper said in a video message.
During the past two weeks, shipments of crude oil, commercial cargo and liquefied natural gas through the Strait of Hormuz have exceeded levels recorded at any other point in the six months since the war began on February 28, Cooper said. The waterway’s main shipping lanes also remain free of mines.
“More than one billion barrels of crude have moved from our Gulf partners through the Strait of Hormuz, while Iran has exported zero barrels because of our ironclad blockade,” Cooper said.
The latest figures follow what Cooper described as a “major milestone” on August 28, when CENTCOM announced that U.S. forces had removed Iranian sea mines from internationally recognized shipping lanes after months of hazardous clearance missions.
Cooper said personnel from across the U.S. military completed the operation “meticulously and quietly.” At the time, he said, international shipping routes had been reopened and that “momentum is building.”
While U.S. forces have increased the flow of protected commercial traffic through Hormuz, the blockade on Iran remains active. CENTCOM said Friday that American forces had diverted 105 commercial ships to enforce the restrictions, preserving what Cooper described as a total halt to Iranian oil exports through the strait.
According to CENTCOM, the two missions are being conducted at the same time: safeguarding international freedom of navigation through Hormuz while stopping commercial traffic from entering or departing Iranian ports.
The naval operation has been supported by Operation Economic Outcast, a Trump administration campaign involving multiple government agencies. The initiative aims to cut off Tehran’s remaining sources of revenue by targeting financial networks, sanctions-evasion schemes and oil-smuggling operations linked to the Iranian regime.
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Cooper said CENTCOM is coordinating with all six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, along with U.S. government agencies, insurers and shipping firms, in an effort to expand commercial traffic through the waterway.
“The effort is paying off,” Cooper said.
The command is also assisting regional allies with air-defense capabilities and working to create a “new coalition attack drone unit” as missile and drone dangers grow in other parts of the Middle East.
The statement came as tensions rose again in Saudi Arabia. A Saudi-led coalition said Saturday that it had intercepted a Houthi ballistic missile launched toward Riyadh. The Iran-backed group separately claimed it had carried out missile and drone strikes against “sensitive” targets in the Saudi capital. Flames and dark smoke were seen near King Khalid International Airport, though officials had not immediately determined what caused the fire.
Iran’s military disputed Cooper’s account. Armed forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi called the CENTCOM figures “false” and “ridiculous,” describing the announcement as an unsuccessful psychological operation.
“The initiative in the Strait of Hormuz remains in the hands of Iran’s powerful armed forces,” Shekarchi said in remarks carried by Iranian state media.
The growing military partnership between the United States and Gulf nations comes just days before President Donald Trump is expected to meet with the leaders of all six Gulf Arab states in New York. His administration is weighing its next moves in the conflict with Iran, which is approaching its seventh month.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz told – News on Saturday that Trump remains “very focused” on preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Waltz added that the upcoming U.N. General Assembly could offer “a moment to continue that diplomacy.”
Joshua Klein is a reporter for – News. Email him at jklein@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.