<\/p>\nListen to this article<\/span>\u00a0|\u00a0<\/span>3 mins<\/span><\/p>\n<\/button>info<\/title><path class=\"icon-main-color\" d=\"M12 0a12 12 0 1 0 0 24 12 12 0 0 0 0-24Zm-.226 3.225a2.039 2.039 0 0 1 2.155 1.924v.193a1.998 1.998 0 0 1-2.155 2.149 2.029 2.029 0 0 1-2.146-2.15 2.039 2.039 0 0 1 1.955-2.122h.193l-.002.006Zm3.227 15.525a.75.75 0 0 1-.752.75H9.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.75h.748V12h-.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.751h3a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.752v6.75h.75a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.749L15 18.75Z\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>The White House later addressed the post in a news briefing, affirming that it was false.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 3 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Shortly afterwards, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt denied that a military escort had occurred, walking back the post entirely.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can confirm that the US Navy has not escorted a tanker or a vessel at this time,\u201d she said. \u201cThough, of course, that\u2019s an option the president has said he will absolutely utilise if and when necessary at the appropriate time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>More than 20 percent of the world\u2019s oil travels through the strait, a narrow maritime passage between Iran, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPresident Trump is maintaining stability of global energy during the military operations against Iran,\u201d Wright <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SecretaryWright\/status\/2031415485879791690\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe U.S. Navy successfully escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz to ensure oil remains flowing to global markets.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But the post was swiftly deleted with no explanation. Leavitt noted that the post had been \u201ctaken down pretty quickly\u201d and that she had not yet \u201chad a chance to talk to the energy secretary about it directly\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The Iranian government, meanwhile, suggested that the deleted post was a misinformation effort, designed to rally global oil markets.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cU.S. officials are posting fake news to manipulate markets. It won\u2019t protect them from inflationary tsunami they\u2019ve imposed on Americans,\u201d Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/araghchi\/status\/2031440101989917010?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wrote<\/a> on social media.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMarkets are facing biggest shortfall in HISTORY: bigger than Arab Oil Embargo, Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolution and the Kuwait invasion COMBINED.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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 \u201cpolitical risk insurance and guarantees\u201d for vessels travelling through Hormuz at a \u201cvery reasonable price\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>He added that military support may also be available.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf necessary, the United States Navy will begin escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, as soon as possible,\u201d Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/116166926920657651\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wrote<\/a>. \u201cNo matter what, the United States will ensure the FREE FLOW of ENERGY to the WORLD.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But it is unclear how effective his administration would be in protecting vessels passing through the strait, given the waterway\u2019s proximity to Iran and Tehran\u2019s pledge to shut down the waterway.<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019s now-deleted post.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf tasked to escort, we\u2019ll look at the range of options to set the military conditions to be able to do that,\u201d Caine said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Listen to this article\u00a0|\u00a03 mins info 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-canada-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14575\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}