The US military added that since early May it has helped escort more than 800 commercial vessels carrying roughly 400 million barrels of crude oil through the strategic waterway.
The latest escalation came after Washington accused Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of launching a missile attack on the commercial cargo ship M/V GFS Galaxy in the Strait of Hormuz.
US officials said the missile strike left one civilian crew member missing and caused significant damage to the vessel.
Iran rejected that account, with the IRGC saying it fired only a “warning shot” after the ship allegedly ignored orders to change course.
Following the incident, Tehran announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz “until further notice” after diplomatic talks in Muscat aimed at easing tensions failed to produce a breakthrough.
