On October 13th local time, the commander of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Navy stated that any American naval vessel approaching the Strait of Hormuz would be sunk.
The US Central Command account posted a statement on social media, stating, "The U.S. military and regional partners have clear control over the Strait of Hormuz."
The U.S. Central Command also stated that just yesterday, the U.S. military assisted Gulf partners in transporting over 19 million barrels of crude oil across the strait.
The reality of maritime conditions is not as stable as the US Central Command claims when they say they have “clear control of the Strait”. According to records from the UK Maritime Trade Operations Office (UKMTO), between October 11th and 12th, several incidents of attacks on merchant vessels occurred in the Hormuz Strait: oil tankers, refined oil carriers, and container ships were hit by “unknown projectiles/artillery shells”.
According to the Financial Times, about 24 ships were attacked in the two weeks prior to October 11th. Specifically, several oil tankers were targeted around October 11th. Data from the analytics firm Kpler shows that oil flow through the Strait of Hormuz dropped to approximately 2.9 million barrels per day on October 11th, and the seven-day average flow decreased by about 43% compared to before the conflict.
