Trump Discloses Secret Tanker Escorts Through Strait of Hormuz

US President Donald Trump has announced that the US military secretly arranged the passage of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway between Iran and Oman, as tensions in the region continue to mount.

"Millions of barrels of oil has come out, and that's why it's at $85-$90 a barrel, instead of $250", Trump said, adding that more than 100 million barrels had reached world markets as a result of the operation.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the higher volumes of traffic through the strait were the result of the military deployment and confirmed that Iranian tankers were not among the escorted vessels.

Trump also stressed that Washington continues to seek a deal with Tehran to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, saying Iran had already agreed to this condition but that a final agreement had not yet been signed.

The president warned that if peace talks fail, the US would attack Iran "very hard". He said the administration was also responding to an incident in which an American Apache helicopter was shot down over the strait.

(reuters, max)