Iran denies US claim on Hormuz oil transport

TEHRAN, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Senior spokesman for Iran's armed forces Abolfazl Shekarchi on Saturday rejected a claim by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) that U.S. forces had supported the transport of over 1 billion barrels of oil through the Strait of Hormuz "in the last couple of months."

This photo taken with a mobile phone shows merchant vessels stranded in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz, near Khasab, a small town in northern Oman, May 29, 2026. (Photo: Xinhua)

In a statement carried by Iranian media, Shekarchi described the claim, made earlier in the day by CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper, as "false and ridiculous."

He added that Cooper's remarks constituted a "projection and a failed psychological operation to boost the morale of the terrorist U.S. Army's exhausted and worn-out forces in the region and justify the exorbitant financial costs and casualties incurred by the United States in the region."

Shekarchi noted that such claims could not change the reality of the expulsion of the "aggressive" U.S. Army from the region, stressing that the initiative in the Strait of Hormuz remained in the hands of Iran's armed forces.

In a video posted on social media on Saturday, Cooper said, "We've reached this significant milestone while assisting over 2,000 commercial ship transits through the strait by providing coordinated protection. Clearly, the momentum is building."

"Thousands of ships have passed through the strait. Over 1 billion barrels of crude have been shipped from Gulf partners through the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran has exported zero barrels thanks to our ironclad blockade," he added.

Following U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, Tehran restricted passage through the strategic waterway, while U.S. forces imposed a naval blockade targeting vessels traveling to or from Iranian ports.