The United States escorts oil tankers to Hormuz without managing to resolve the blockade
After nine months deployed, the aircraft carrier 'Abraham Lincoln' leaves the area due to unrest on board
WashingtonThe U.S. military appears to have found a way to escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz despite the Iranian blockade. Navy ships have managed to find a corridor along the Omani coast through which some vessels are successfully navigating a route that has become highly dangerous due to Tehran's attacks. As happens with so many other operations in this war, it is successful in its tactical objective, but Washington does not achieve a strategic victory. The United States is getting some oil barrels through the strait, although the pre-war pace has not yet been recovered.
The mission, which has revealed the New York Times and Axios, manage to get a handful of ships loaded with crude barrels to cross the southern route. Before the the United States and Israel jointly bombed Iran, around 15 million barrels of crude oil per day passed through. What's interesting here, beyond how Iranian attacks are successfully avoided, is the dance of numbers.
US government sources tell Axiosthat manage to transport around 10 million barrels a day. On the other hand, the maritime traffic analysts cited by the New York Times cipher in 5 million the number of barrels that manage to leave the Persian Gulf daily. Be that as it may, markets, despite their sensitivity, have not noticed a big difference, even though the operation has been underway for weeks.
High economic and human cost
Meanwhile, the United States Central Command (Centcom) has to use a wide variety of weaponry to intercept Iranian drones and missiles. The United States is currently deploying ships, helicopters, and planes to launch attacks and intercept them, and, according to Centcom, they have already assisted more than 1,000 vessels in passing through the strait. According to data from the International Maritime Organization (IMO), at least 15 ships sailing on southern routes, near the coast of Oman, have been impacted by Iranian attacks since the beginning of June, with sixteen sailors injured and two dead.
The high cost is not only economic, but also human: the unrest on board the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln of the US, which has been deployed for more than nine months, has led to an avalanche of criticism against President Donald Trump. After participating in the attack on Venezuela, the aircraft carrier traveled directly to the Middle East, where it has been deployed since the beginning of the year, and exhaustion among the crew is high. This Thursday, US government sources confirmed that the aircraft carrier has already set sail for home.
The alternative operation of skirting the Omani coast has also been made known at a time when the relationship between Muscat and Washington is once again faltering. This same week, the American president threatened to bomb Oman if it tried to interfere with his plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. While the Republican has been saying these days that the maritime passage is under American control – a statement that has not translated into reality – the sultanate and the Islamic Republic have been negotiating the division of control of the strait.
Besides Iran, Oman is the other country that has access to part of the waters of Hormuz. This strategic position so delicate is also what has made Oman over all these years a key negotiator with the Iranians. Although in the failed peace talks if Pakistan adopted the singing voice, the negotiating team that gave it more credibility and strength to the process was the Omani one.