Iran has challenged a US Central Command account of its operations in the Strait of Hormuz, rejecting Centcom’s claim that it escorted tankers carrying more than one billion barrels of oil through the waterway, Middle East Eye reported.
According to Iran’s Fars news agency, armed forces spokesman Abolfazl Shekarchi described the US assertion as a “failed psychological operation”. He said the claim was intended to raise the morale of US military personnel and provide justification for the financial and human costs of the war.
Centcom had said that, in addition to supporting oil exports through the strait, it protected more than 2,000 commercial passages. The US command also said it had removed mines from the main shipping routes in the waterway. Iran disputed the US account concerning tanker escorts, according to the report.
The competing statements centre on activity in the Strait of Hormuz, where commercial vessels and oil tankers pass through key shipping lanes. The figures cited by Centcom included both the volume of oil carried by escorted tankers and the number of commercial transits it said received protection.
In a separate development, a committee made up of senior Iranian officials approved a new requirement concerning data cables in the Strait of Hormuz, Middle East Eye reported. The source material did not provide the complete wording or further operational details of the rule.
The two developments address different aspects of activity in the same waterway: the dispute over US claims relates to tanker movements, commercial shipping and mine clearance, while the newly approved Iranian measure concerns data cables. No additional information was provided on the implementation of the cable requirement or on the timing of the committee’s decision.
Reporting attribution: based on reporting by Middle East Eye — original source: https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/iran-disputes-us-oil-claim-approves-new-rule-hormuz-data-cables.