The commander of U.S. Central Command, General Brad Cooper, said Friday that U.S. forces had helped around 1,500 commercial vessels transit the Strait of Hormuz in recent months by providing coordinated protection. He added that the vessels were carrying approximately 750 million barrels of crude oil bound for global energy markets.
In a video statement posted on X, Cooper said Iran had not exported a single barrel of oil from its shores since the U.S. naval blockade resumed in July.
He said approximately 50,000 U.S. troops stationed in the region were enforcing a naval blockade against Iran while maintaining the flow of commercial maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
Vessels have been prevented from entering or leaving Iranian ports without U.S. authorization, Cooper said, adding that some ships had been permitted to pass for “humanitarian reasons.” He said U.S. forces had forced 75 vessels attempting to breach the blockade to turn back and had disabled three vessels that failed to comply with instructions.
Cooper also said the U.S. military had successfully cleared the international waterways in the strait of naval mines allegedly planted by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps months earlier, adding that internationally recognized shipping lanes were now free of mines.
The remarks came a day after Iranian Vice President for Executive Affairs Mohammad Jafar Qaem-Panah said the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports was preventing the country from importing fuel at a time when domestic production was insufficient to meet demand.
“Gasoline production is insufficient, and because of the U.S. naval blockade, we cannot import it,” Qaem-Panah said, according to Iran’s official IRNA news agency.
Long lines of vehicles have formed outside fuel stations in recent days after the government announced a rationing plan reducing fuel allocations that had been in place for years.
A sudden increase in gasoline prices in 2019 sparked protests in nearly 100 cities, including Tehran, leaving dozens dead.
Iran, one of the world’s major oil producers, has some of the lowest fuel prices globally.
Iran has been holding talks with Oman for several weeks, while insisting that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed unless Washington fulfills its commitments under a memorandum of understanding signed in mid-June, which includes lifting the U.S. blockade and economic sanctions imposed on Tehran.
Iranian Revolutionary Guard spokesman Hossein Mahbi said that if the United States does not accept Iran’s conditions, the Strait of Hormuz will not be reopened under any circumstances. However, if Washington ends its obstruction and returns to the memorandum of understanding, the strait could be reopened. “Therefore, it must accept our conditions,” he said.
On June 18, 2026, Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding on freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz as a step toward reaching a final agreement, but its implementation stalled due to disagreements over the strait’s security.
Between July 8 and 24, the United States resumed attacks on Iran, while Tehran responded by targeting countries in the region, before talks resumed over safe passage for vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.
The United States subsequently reinstated its naval blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz after renewed clashes described as the most intense since the ceasefire between the two sides took effect in April.
Iran warned that the renewed blockade of its ports undermined the memorandum of understanding with Washington.
The war began on February 28, when Israel and the United States launched attacks on Iran, prompting Tehran to close the Strait of Hormuz. Before the war, the waterway was the main maritime route for nearly one-fifth of global energy supplies.
The Strait of Hormuz remains one of the key flashpoints in the conflict, with Iran’s control over the waterway giving Tehran significant leverage and an important means of exerting pressure.
