U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) publicly denied Tuesday that the U.S. Navy has resumed escorting commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, directly contradicting a Wall Street Journal report that cited anonymous U.S. military officials saying escort operations had restarted.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Navy forces guided a Greek supertanker carrying approximately two million barrels of crude oil through the waterway off the Omani coast. The vessel had been stranded in the region since early March and is now transiting to India to deliver its cargo.
CENTCOM labeled the escort reports “FALSE” in an X post, stating that “Project Freedom has not resumed, and U.S. forces are not currently escorting commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.”
🚫CLAIM: Recent media reporting claims that the U.S. Navy has restarted escorting or assisting commercial vessels during transits through the Strait of Hormuz. FALSE.
✅TRUTH: Project Freedom has not resumed, and U.S. forces are not currently escorting commercial vessels through… pic.twitter.com/JD9cY5FUNN
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) May 26, 2026
Both The Wall Street Journal’s account and CENTCOM’s denial trace to the same institution. The Wall Street Journal attributed its reporting to U.S. military officials, creating an internal contradiction within the American national security apparatus rather than the more typical situation of the U.S. military disputing a foreign government’s account.
Project Freedom, the U.S. initiative to guide commercial shipping through the Strait, launched in early May and was suspended roughly 50 hours later following pressure from Gulf partners, including Saudi Arabia, which suspended American military access to its bases and airspace needed to sustain the mission.
CENTCOM said separately on Tuesday that U.S. forces have redirected 108 commercial vessels back to Iranian ports since operations began, as part of ongoing naval blockade enforcement against Iran.
A U.S. Sailor stands watch in the pilothouse aboard USS John Finn (DDG 113) as the guided-missile destroyer transits the Arabian Sea in support of the U.S. blockade against Iran. As of May 26, U.S. forces have redirected 108 commercial vessels to ensure compliance. pic.twitter.com/oyRzVKnFNG
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) May 26, 2026
The Strait of Hormuz carries an estimated 20% of global oil and gas supply and has remained a flashpoint since Trump declared a blockade of the waterway in April.
