US created stealth corridor through Hormuz to transport oil, claims report
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The US military has established a discreet shipping corridor through the Strait of Hormuz, enabling the nightly transit of 15–20 oil tankers and the export of roughly 10 million barrels of oil per day—about half the pre-war volume—according to a report by Axios citing two US officials.
The operation, underway for several weeks, routes vessels through a southern channel hugging the coast of Oman.
Empty tankers enter the Gulf from the Arabian Sea, load oil at regional ports, and exit under U.S. military guidance, while loaded ships move outbound in coordinated groups during designated nighttime windows.
“We have been controlling the southern lane of the Strait of Hormuz for two months now. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps can be a nuisance, but they don’t control the strait. We do,” one US official with direct knowledge of the operation reportedly told Axios.
The effort is overseen by a task force based at Army headquarters in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, which coordinates daily ship lists with Gulf partners and schedules separate inbound and outbound convoys.
US Central Command’s recent two-week campaign degrading Iran’s radar and maritime surveillance systems made the corridor viable.
Iranian monitoring is now limited to a handful of reconstituted radars and “spotters” in small IRGC fast boats, leaving Tehran largely “blind” to southern-channel traffic and prompting imprecise drone and cruise-missile launches.
US Air Force fighters provide protection; earlier this week forces downed eight Iranian drones and two cruise missiles.
Donald Trump confirmed the scale of the flows, telling Axios: “There is a tremendous amount of oil coming out of the Strait of Hormuz.”
He added that the US is not currently negotiating with Iran, stating, “They are wasting time. It’s a waste of time to negotiate with them,” and describing Iran as “a shell of themselves” despite retaining some residual fighting capacity.
Average daily exports have climbed toward 10 million barrels, with some recent nights seeing 15–20 million barrels moved.
On one night this week, more than 20 ships were scheduled, potentially carrying about 15 million barrels.
Analysts and earlier reporting note that US forces have assisted more than 1,000 ship transits since the war began, with vessels often sailing “dark”—transponders off—to reduce detection risk.
