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Energy Secretary Chris Wright has posted, then deleted, a claim that the United States military provided protection for an oil tanker travelling through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for the global energy trade.
The White House later addressed the post in a news briefing, affirming that it was false.
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The flip-flop happened early on Tuesday afternoon, when Wright posted on social media around 1:02pm US Eastern time (17:00 GMT) a message he then deleted within about a half hour.
Shortly afterwards, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt denied that a military escort had occurred, walking back the post entirely.
“I can confirm that the US Navy has not escorted a tanker or a vessel at this time,” she said. “Though, of course, that’s an option the president has said he will absolutely utilise if and when necessary at the appropriate time.”
More than 20 percent of the world’s oil travels through the strait, a narrow maritime passage between Iran, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.
But since the US and Israel launched a war against Israel on February 28, trade through Hormuz has come to a standstill amid fears of Iranian strikes.
Initially, Wright had erroneously reported that a tanker had passed through the strait with the help of the US military, and he praised the administration of US President Donald Trump for the alleged intervention.
“President Trump is maintaining stability of global energy during the military operations against Iran,” Wright wrote.
“The U.S. Navy successfully escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz to ensure oil remains flowing to global markets.”
But the post was swiftly deleted with no explanation. Leavitt noted that the post had been “taken down pretty quickly” and that she had not yet “had a chance to talk to the energy secretary about it directly”.
The Iranian government, meanwhile, suggested that the deleted post was a misinformation effort, designed to rally global oil markets.
“U.S. officials are posting fake news to manipulate markets. It won’t protect them from inflationary tsunami they’ve imposed on Americans,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on social media.
“Markets are facing biggest shortfall in HISTORY: bigger than Arab Oil Embargo, Iran’s Islamic Revolution and the Kuwait invasion COMBINED.”
Free travel through the Strait of Hormuz has been a point of concern for the Trump administration, which pledged US assistance for the global shipping operations that have been affected.
On March 3, four days into the war, Trump posted on his platform Truth Social that the US Development Finance Corporation, a federal agency, would offer “political risk insurance and guarantees” for vessels travelling through Hormuz at a “very reasonable price”.
He added that military support may also be available.
“If necessary, the United States Navy will begin escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, as soon as possible,” Trump wrote. “No matter what, the United States will ensure the FREE FLOW of ENERGY to the WORLD.”
But it is unclear how effective his administration would be in protecting vessels passing through the strait, given the waterway’s proximity to Iran and Tehran’s pledge to shut down the waterway.
General Dan Caine, the head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, also signalled on Tuesday that the military had yet to begin any operations to protect oil tankers in the strait, appearing to contradict Wright’s now-deleted post.
“If tasked to escort, we’ll look at the range of options to set the military conditions to be able to do that,” Caine said in a statement.
The inability to move oil through the Strait of Hormuz has been credited with causing oil prices to skyrocket, heightening public backlash across the globe.
On Tuesday, the American Automobile Association, known as AAA, found that the average price of oil in the US had jumped to $3.54 per gallon (94 cents per litre), up nearly 43 cents from the previous week.
The war with Iran is seen as widely unpopular in the US, with poll after poll indicating it has one of the lowest initial rates of support of any foreign conflict the US has entered in recent history.
Quinnipiac University released a survey on Monday that found 53 percent of US voters opposed military action against Iran. A poll from Reuters-Ipsos last week found an even higher percentage of disapproval, at 60 percent.
