The Iranian army responds to the commander of Centcom by facilitating the exit of a billion barrels of oil from the Strait of Hormuz in two months.

The Iranian army spokesman, Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi, responded to the statements of the commander of the US Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, that the US army facilitated the exit of a billion barrels of oil through the Strait of Hormuz during the past two months. Brigadier General Shekarji said that what he described as “allegations” by the Commander of the US Central Command, regarding escorting oil tankers and transporting a billion barrels of oil during the past two months, are “false and ridiculous allegations that have no connection to reality, and are more like a failed psychological operation than reality,” as he was quoted by the semi-official Iranian Tasnim News Agency.

The Iranian military spokesman added, “The aim of this statement is to raise the morale of the exhausted American army forces in the region, and to justify America’s heavy financial and human costs in the region, and this claim cannot change the fact of the American army’s withdrawal from the region,” according to his description, and according to the official Iranian “IRNA” news agency. Brigadier General Abu Bakr Shekarji added, "The initiative in the Strait of Hormuz is still in the hands of the Iranian armed forces."

Centcom Commander, Admiral Brad Cooper, said on Saturday that the United States had provided protection for the transit of one billion barrels of crude oil in the Strait of Hormuz during the past two months. Cooper explained, in a video statement to Centcom, on Saturday: “The US Central Command facilitated the safe transit of one billion barrels of crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz during the past two months.”

Brad Cooper pointed out that the Central Command succeeded in securing the passage of more than 2,000 commercial ships through the strategic sea lane. He explained that Iran did not export “a single barrel” of oil, he said.

In mid-July, the United States re-imposed its naval blockade that includes all Iranian ports, whether located inside or outside the Strait of Hormuz. Earlier Friday, Deputy Assistant Commander of the Revolutionary Guards, Brigadier General Aziz Ghazanfari, warned that if oil is not allowed to be exported from Iran, it will not be exported from any other country in the region.