Strait of Hormuz fiasco: 'Intern error' triggers 'worst information warfare defeat of the 21st century', says analyst

US officials have not confirmed speculation circulating online that the message was written by an intern or a ‘low-level staffer.’

• US retracts claim of Navy escort for tanker in Hormuz Strait
• Iran used deleted US post for viral information warfare win
• Mistaken US post caused volatility in global oil prices

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A sharp rout in the global oil market has drawn fresh attention to a now-deleted US government social media post claiming an oil tanker had crossed the Strait of Hormuz under US Navy escort - a claim later withdrawn by Washington. Geopolitical analyst Shanaka Anslem Perera has called the episode a major information warfare setback for the United States, arguing that the mistake handed Iran an unexpected narrative victory during the ongoing Gulf conflict.

In a detailed post on X, Perera laid out what he described as a communications failure that allowed Iranian officials to turn a deleted US claim into a viral moment in the information war surrounding the conflict.

According to the analyst, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright had posted on social media that a US Navy-escorted oil tanker had successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz - the strategic waterway through which roughly a fifth of the world's crude oil passes.

The claim was later withdrawn after officials clarified that no escort had actually taken place. The post was subsequently deleted.

Before it disappeared, Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf captured a screenshot and posted a brief response that quickly spread online.

"An oil tanker crossed Strait of Hormuz escorted by US Navy ships? Maybe on PlayStation!"

Perera noted that the remark quickly became one of the most widely shared posts by an Iranian official since the war began.

"Iran did not hack an American account. Iran did not plant disinformation," the analyst wrote. "Iran waited for America to publish its own false claim, watched America delete it, and then broadcast the deletion to the world."

The analyst argued that the episode highlights how quickly information missteps can shape narratives during a modern conflict.

"A claim about the most strategically sensitive waterway on Earth was published from a cabinet secretary's account and then retracted after markets and audiences had already reacted," Perera said, describing the incident as a broader communications failure rather than a simple posting error.

However, US officials have not confirmed speculation circulating online that the message was written by an intern or a "low-level staffer."

The United States Department of Energy later said the post had been removed because of "incorrect captioning by Department of Energy staff" attached to a video clip.

Meanwhile, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that no US Navy escort of a tanker through the Strait of Hormuz had taken place.

Perera also pointed to the market reaction to the original claim, arguing that the mistaken post contributed to sharp volatility in crude prices as traders interpreted the message as a signal that shipping through the strategic waterway might be resuming.

"The escort that was announced did not happen. The price that moved on it did," he wrote.

Despite the online debate, the situation in the Strait of Hormuz remains tense, with shipping activity sharply reduced and hundreds of tankers reportedly waiting to pass through the narrow channel linking the Gulf to global markets.

Summing up the episode, Perera said Iran's information victory required little effort.

"The information warfare victory cost Iran nothing," he wrote. "A screenshot and fifteen words."