Trump: US secretly moved 87 oil tankers through Hormuz

US President Donald Trump said Washington quietly moved at least 87 oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz under the cover of darkness while Iranian forces remained unaware. “We’d leave at 1 o’clock in the morning, all lights off, and we’d have our navy destroyers going alongside,” Trump told Axios in an interview aired Friday. He said the operations were possible because the US military had “knocked out” Iran’s radar and defensive systems earlier in the conflict.

Project Freedom

For more than a month, “nobody knew” where the oil originated, Trump added. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth recently said “Project Freedom” had escorted 125 million barrels of oil through the strait. Separately, Trump told US Air Force service members that ships are flowing out “like nobody has ever seen before,” adding: “There were a lot of about 700 of them, and they’re pouring out. The oil is all over the place.”

60‑day ultimatum

Turning to the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding signed with Iran, Trump said Iran has 60 days to reach a final agreement. “We have an agreement that was signed last night. Sixty days — they have to make a deal; otherwise, we will do things that won’t make them happy. I don’t think it’s going to get to that … If we do that, then all of a sudden, you’re not going to have the oil flowing out of the strait.”