The U.S. government is highlighting a recovery in regional energy shipments, claiming that secretive naval operations in the Strait of Hormuz have returned oil flows to near prewar levels. To maintain this volume, the military has implemented a security “bubble” of escorts around commercial tankers to shield them from Iranian attacks, a move Washington intends to showcase as a success before the midterms.
Despite the gains in export volume, Western officials and private shipping companies have warned that the U.S. protection mission is a temporary and unsustainable fix. The instability is compounded by a shift in Iranian tactics, with recent attacks focusing on the engine rooms of commercial vessels to disable them entirely. This fragility comes as the region faces threats of a return to all-out war following the U.S. elections.