2 US Warships Cross Strait Of Hormuz In First Such Transit Since Iran War Began

Two US warships have reportedly passed through the Strait of Hormuz, marking the first such transit since the war with Iran began, as President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the United States had started “clearing out” the strategic waterway.

The US Navy guided-missile destroyers passed through the strait without incident, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing three US officials.

The operation was not coordinated with authorities in Tehran, according to US media outlet Axios.

“We’re now starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, describing it as “a favour” to countries such as China, Japan and France that “don’t have the courage or will to do this work themselves.”

He insisted that Iran is “LOSING BIG!” in the conflict, while acknowledging that Iranian mines in the strategic strait — through which a fifth of the world’s crude oil passes — 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.

US officials did not immediately respond to AFP requests for comment on the reports.

The key shipping lane off the coast of Iran has been effectively blocked by Tehran since the United States and Israel began bombing Iran on 28 February, although reopening the strait was reportedly a condition of the fragile ceasefire introduced earlier this week.

Senior Iranian and American officials began negotiations in Pakistan on Saturday, Iranian media reported, in an effort to end a conflict that has plunged the Middle East into violence and sent shockwaves through the global economy.

In an earlier post, Trump said that empty tankers were heading to the United States from around the world to purchase oil, though he did not provide further details.