Donald Trump Implementing Procedures For Escorting US Tankers In Strait Of Hormuz.

Washington DC; May 2026: President Donald Trump wants to resolve the standoff with Iran without resuming the war, and is looking at options, including escorting commercial tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, said Kenneth Katzman at the Soufan Center, in New York. “If we don’t start to see more progress, from the Iranian side particularly, I think President Trump is likely to move to some sort of US escort mission for the tankers stuck in the strait”, Katzman said.

Such a mission would benefit friendly nations, including the Gulf states and Iraq, while the US blockade on the strait would remain in place. “If Iran makes the mistake, I would say, of attacking these escort missions, then we have a different discussion. And Trump has many levels of escalation he could move to if he needs to”. Katzman argued that a prolonged deadlock would favour the US, saying Iran has few alternatives to seaborne trade and could eventually be forced to cut oil production. “The US pressure is mainly an inconvenience, high prices, which is negative politically for Trump but it’s not what the Iranians are facing. They could face mass hardship on a very, very substantial level among the population if this goes on too long”.

Amidst the US hegemony over the control of Strait of Hormuz, a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) belonging to Iran’s National Iranian Tanker Company has successfully evaded the US Navy and reached the Asia Pacific, carrying more than 1.9 million barrels of crude oil valued at nearly $220 million, according to TankerTrackers.com.

In a post on X, the monitoring firm identified the vessel as “HUGE” and said it was last sighted off Sri Lanka more than a week ago. The tanker is currently traversing the Lombok Strait of Indonesia towards the Riau Archipelago.

TankerTrackers.com said that HUGE was in Iranian waters on April 13th, when the US Navy announced its blockade on Iranian ports. It said HUGE had not transmitted on the Automatic Identification System (AIS) since March 20, when it departed the Strait of Malacca for Iran.

The report comes after Iranian state media claimed on April 29 that at least 52 Iranian ships had breached the US blockade. The US military, meanwhile, has said it has forced some 41 Iran-linked vessels to reverse course since the blockade began. US officials say the blockade is working and has cost Iran billions in revenue. The US says that Iran is unable to export oil and will be forced to store oil until capacity runs out and production halts.

US blockade on Iranian ports is ‘blocking diplomatic progress’, said Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, says the US naval blockade of Iran has backfired on President Trump and is making the situation much worse. “The negotiations were taking place and could have continued regardless of the blockade”, Parsi told news reporters.

“The blockade has nothing to do with the Iranians being at the table. If anything, it is blocking diplomatic progress more than anything else”. She argued that Trump had actually secured his greatest advantage through diplomacy before the blockade was imposed. “Once he managed to get the ceasefire, the primary pressure on him, the war itself and the way it was pushing up gas prices, was lifted. Had he stayed in that scenario and used time to his advantage, he would have been in a much stronger position vis-a-vis the Iranians, because the Iranians had not managed to get the key thing they wanted: sanctions relief”.

Instead, by imposing the blockade, Trump took more oil off the market. “Oil prices are now higher during the ceasefire than they were during the war itself. All of these economic indicators show that the blockade is making the situation worse for Trump”, Parsi said.

Team Maverick.