Image Credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / Contributor / Getty Images 
The US could “easily” reopen the Strait of Hormuz, “with a little more time,” allowing it to “TAKE THE OIL, & MAKE A FORTUNE.”
President Trump made the claim on Truth Social on Friday, suggesting a US operation to commandeer the Strait would lead to massive prosperity for the world.
“With a little more time, we can easily OPEN THE HORMUZ STRAIT, TAKE THE OIL, & MAKE A FORTUNE,” he wrote.
“IT WOULD BE A “GUSHER” FOR THE WORLD???”
The post is being taken as one of the clearest indications that President Trump is preparing for direct military action to take control of the vital Strait, through which 20% of the world’s oil and natural-gas exports pass under normal conditions.
In March, as a result of Operation Epic Fury and Iranian attempts to close the Strait, just 10% of normal traffic—220 vessels—transited the Strait.
Earlier this week, President Trump suggested US allies should secure their own energy through the Strait if they’re not prepared to help reopen it.
In response, 40 countries met virtually on Thursday, led by the UK, to discuss ways the Strait could be reopened using diplomatic and economic means, rather than military force.
Over the past day, three tankers appear to have passed through the Strait of Hormuz without sailing through the corridor approved by the Iranian regime.
Two oil tankers and a liquified-natural-gas (LNG) tanker exited the Strait and are now stationed off the coast of Oman, according to the website VesselFinder.
At least one of the ships is Omani-owned.
“Omani ships are attempting to sail out of the Middle East Gulf, and if successful, will be the first vessels in nearly three weeks to transit the chokepoint without sailing via the ‘Tehran-approved’ corridor,” shipping news outlet Lloyd’s List wrote in an April 2 post on X.
The ships hugged the northern Omani coastline, off the Musandam governorate, which is not considered to be a “conventional shipping lane.”
In doing so, they avoided Iran’s “tollbooth” lane, between the islands of Larak Qeshm.
The Epoch Times reports, “In peacetime, vessels use a two-lane shipping channel in the middle of the Strait of Hormuz, but due to the war, ships are currently forced to take a diversion to the north, around Larak Island, placing them in Iranian territorial waters so they effectively pass through a ‘tollbooth.’
“Lloyd’s List Intelligence says vessel owners contact ‘approved intermediaries’ of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), receive a code, and are escorted by an IRGC vessel.”
Iran has been accepting payments in Chinese Yuan for passage through its approved corridor and also appears to have developed the capacity to accept payments in cryptocurrency.
The UN Security Council is due to meet today to discuss the ongoing crisis.
