Axios: US ships have crossed the Strait of Hormuz for the first time since the start of the war without coordinating with Iran
Axios website claimed on Saturday that ships of the US fleet crossed the Strait of Hormuz for the first time since the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran at the end of February.
Axios attributed its report to unnamed US officials who stated that a number of ships belonging to the US fleet had crossed the Strait of Hormuz.
Axios claimed in its report that the passage of the US ships was not coordinated with Iran.
There has been no immediate comment from the Iranian side on what was reported by Axios.
Iran allows ships from some countries to pass through the strait and threatens to target any ship that passes through without coordinating with it, amid the ongoing war with the United States and Israel.
This comes as delegations from Washington and Tehran arrive in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, to conduct negotiations to reach a permanent ceasefire following the temporary truce they reached on April 8.
A senior Iranian military official denied the validity of the news that an US destroyer had crossed the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian media quoted an unnamed official as saying that claims regarding a US destroyer crossing the Strait of Hormuz do not reflect reality.
In the same context, the semi-official Iranian news agency Tasnim reported that an US destroyer turned back after attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz.
The agency explained that the destroyer received a strongly worded warning from the Iranian armed forces that they would target the destroyer within 30 minutes.
The Iranian forces also warned that their insistence on crossing the Strait of Hormuz was negatively affecting the negotiation process between Iran and the United States.
For his part, US President Donald Trump predicted on Saturday that the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened in the near future.
Trump stated that his country’s delegation began its talks with the Iranian delegation in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.
Speaking about the talks with the Iranian side through Pakistani intermediaries, Trump claimed that the regime in Iran is on the verge of collapse.
The US president indicated that alternative routes to the Strait of Hormuz were being sought for global oil transport, and said he expected the strait to reopen in the near future.
He stressed that the United States is prepared to act again if negotiations do not go well, according to him.
Trump’s statement comes in parallel with what Axios reported earlier on Saturday, about ships of the US fleet crossing the Strait of Hormuz.
There was no immediate comment from the Iranian side on the Axios report, which cited unnamed US officials.
Iran allows ships from some countries to pass through the strait and threatens to target any ship that passes through without coordinating with it, amid the ongoing war with the United States and Israel.
