Pentagon-Backed Oil Transfers Near Hormuz Contradict CENTCOM’s Public Denials

U.S. Central Command forces have been overseeing a covert network of ship-to-ship oil transfers at the edge of the Strait of Hormuz, using aerial drones, unmanned surface vessels, and helicopters to keep Gulf crude moving through a waterway that Iran has functionally closed since late February. The operation, first reported by Reuters and corroborated by shipping data and satellite imagery, began in early May and has involved at least 116 vessels. ^[1][2] The transfers occur at two offshore locations: one off Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates and a second off Oman's port of Sohar. ^[3][2]

The operational mechanics mirror a technique Iran has long deployed to evade U.S. sanctions. Participating tankers assemble at a staging point before the strait, then stagger their departures roughly 3,000 to 4,000 meters apart. ^[3] The vessels disable their Automatic Identification System transponders and dim their running lights before transit. ^[3][2] After clearing the area Iran has declared under its control, the smaller shuttle tankers pull alongside Very Large Crude Carriers waiting offshore, and the transfer takes between 24 and 40 hours. ^[3] The empty shuttle tankers then return through the strait while the loaded VLCCs proceed toward international markets, which satellite imagery suggests includes destinations in Asia. ^[3] Reuters estimated that roughly 90 million barrels of crude oil and petroleum products may have moved through the network since early May, a significant volume but still a fraction of the approximately 20 million barrels per day that transited the strait before the conflict began. ^[3]

The operation sits in direct tension with CENTCOM's public posture. As late as late May, CENTCOM flatly denied that the U.S. Navy had "restarted escorting or assisting commercial vessels during transits through the Strait of Hormuz." ^[4] When additional evidence of vessel transits emerged, CENTCOM's public affairs director, Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, revised the command's language, saying U.S. forces were not escorting ships but were "communicating and coordinating" with commercial vessels seeking to transit the waterway. ^[4] In the most recent iteration, a U.S. defense official told Reuters that no CENTCOM forces are participating in an offshore ship-to-ship oil transfer operation. Eight sources, including a private security contractor directly involved in the transfers, told Reuters the opposite: that the U.S. military controls the operation. [POLITICO]^[2]

The covert transfer network emerged after Trump announced and then quickly suspended Project Freedom, a formal CENTCOM escort operation launched May 4. ^[5][6] That operation, which included guided-missile destroyers, more than 100 land- and sea-based aircraft, and approximately 15,000 service members, was paused May 5 after Trump cited progress in ongoing negotiations with Iran. ^[6][7] Bloomberg reported June 3 that after the suspension of Project Freedom, the U.S. military had shifted to less publicized methods of supporting vessel transits, with ships turning off transponders and navigating close to the Omani coast to avoid Iranian mines while the military provided assistance as needed. ^[4] Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth alluded to the approach without specifying it, saying in public remarks that traffic through the strait would resume because of "what we're able to do, and are doing, whether it's known or unknown." ^[4]

The Apache helicopter Iran downed off the coast of Oman on the night of June 8 was involved in the transfer operation, according to Reuters, though the specific role the aircraft played could not be confirmed. [POLITICO]^[8] President Trump announced June 9 on Truth Social that Iran had shot down the Army AH-64 Apache while it was patrolling the strait, and that both crew members were safe. ^[8][9] A U.S. official told Axios the investigation determined that an Iranian drone struck the helicopter, though whether the action was intentional remained unclear. ^[9] CENTCOM launched "self-defense strikes" against Iran later that day, describing the mission as "a proportional response to unjustified Iranian aggression." ^[10][11] The strikes targeted Iranian air defense systems, ground control stations, and surveillance radar sites near the strait. ^[10]

The legal and policy architecture governing U.S. military action in the region rests largely on the president's Article II commander-in-chief authority and the authorizations flowing from the ongoing conflict, which CENTCOM has framed in self-defense terms. The covert transfer operation, if fully controlled by U.S. military personnel as Reuters' sources assert, raises questions about whether it has been notified to Congress under any applicable reporting framework, including the War Powers Resolution, particularly given that the assets involved have now drawn hostile fire. The contradiction between CENTCOM's public denials and the operational reality described by eight independent sources also places the command's statements under scrutiny at a moment when negotiations over a broader U.S.-Iran agreement remain unresolved. ^[12][POLITICO]