US launches mission to reopen Hormuz

WASHINGTON: The United States has launched a major naval operation in the Strait of Hormuz to escort stranded commercial vessels and restore shipping through one of the world’s most critical oil routes, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio accusing Iran of illegally “holding the global economy hostage”.

Speaking at the White House on Monday, Rubio said President Donald Trump had authorised “Project Freedom” to guide trapped civilian ships to safety after weeks of escalating tensions in the Persian Gulf.

Rubio said nearly 23,000 civilians from 87 countries remained stranded aboard commercial vessels because of what he described as an Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow but strategically vital waterway through which roughly a quarter of global oil trade passes.

“These innocent sailors and commercial crew members have been stranded out at sea,” Rubio said. “These ships — you don't leave a ship out there for this long. You start running out of food, you start running out of potable water, essential supplies.”

He accused Iran of carrying out “piracy” by laying mines in international waters and targeting commercial vessels.

“This is an international waterway,” Rubio said. “No country can control them. There is no international law that allows you to say, I'm going to put mines in an international body of water, and I'm going to blow up ships that don't listen to us and try to go through.”