Donald Trump promises 'great safety' for oil tankers passing through Strait of Hormuz

Trump assures tanker safety in Hormuz

The US President Donald Trump on Wednesday promised “great safety” for oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz, as Tehran tightened its chokehold on the vital waterway amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran. “I think you're going to see great safety, and it's going to be very, very quickly,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

Trump also emphasised the need for energy stability and urged oil companies to use the strait for fuel transport.  “I think they should. I think they should use the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.

On the military front, Trump claimed U.S. forces had destroyed nearly all of Iran’s mine-laying vessels. “We took out just about all of their mine ships in one night. We’re up to boat number 60. I didn’t realize they had that big a navy. I would say it was big and ineffective. But every one of their ships, just about all of their navy is gone. The bottom of the sea,” he said.

Asked whether Iran had laid mines in the strait, Trump told reporters, “We don’t think so.” The Islamic Republic has laid about a dozen mines in the waterway, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Trump, however, offered no specific timeline for when he saw the conflict coming to a close, saying “we’re not finished yet” and that the US needed to keep doing “more of the same.”

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron said he had “no confirmation” that Iran was laying sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz, following reports that the waterway had been mined. “I have no confirmation of this, either from partner services or from our own services,” Macron said after a video call with G7 leaders. He added that Iran’s military capabilities had been weakened but not “reduced to zero” in the US and Israeli strikes, leaving the country capable of continued attacks in the region.

He added that he left it up to US President Donald Trump to "clarify both his ultimate objectives and the pace he wants to set for operations" launched with Israel on February 28.