WANA (Jul 10) – The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said Thursday that Iran’s assertion that vessels may transit the Strait of Hormuz only through routes designated by Tehran is false.

 

CENTCOM also said Iran does not control the strategic waterway and reiterated U.S. claims that it plays a key role in safeguarding freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

 

The command further stated that since early May, U.S. forces have helped ensure the safe passage of more than 800 commercial vessels and the transport of 380 million barrels of crude oil through the vital international trade corridor.

 

The statement comes after the U.S. military launched attacks on areas in southern Iran over two consecutive nights beginning July 7, on the orders of President Donald Trump while he was attending the NATO summit in Turkey, an action Iran says violated the Tehran-Washington memorandum of understanding.

 

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on July 8 that, in its initial response, its naval and aerospace forces carried out a joint missile and drone operation targeting 85 U.S. military sites, including facilities at Port Salman, the U.S. Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain, and Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait. The IRGC also said it shot down an MQ-9 drone that it said had attempted to interfere with the operation.

 

The IRGC later said on July 9 that its Aerospace Force struck what it described as the enemy’s command-and-control center in West Asia and Azraq Air Base in Jordan with 10 ballistic missiles.