CENTCOM chief Adm. Cooper flies over Hormuz as U.S. forces cite 1.5 billion barrels of oil exported and 3,000 transits supported

The head of U.S. Central Command flew over the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, 25 October, as CENTCOM said American forces had passed a milestone in helping Gulf partners export more than 1.5 billion barrels of crude oil since the summer. U.S. Navy Adm. Brad Cooper made the trip aboard a U.S. Army CH-47 Chinook, according to a CENTCOM public affairs release published through DVIDS.

CENTCOM said more than 3,000 commercial vessels have transited the waterway with support from its forces over the past six months. The command also said that more than 95% of ships navigating the strait in recent months have passed safely, and it blamed the remaining risk on what it called the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ “unwarranted aggression”. These are CENTCOM’s own figures and characterisations; the release does not break the numbers down by incident or vessel.

Mine clearance and the message from Cooper

According to the release, the visit followed the clearing of the strait’s international shipping lanes of sea mines that CENTCOM says the IRGC had laid. Cooper met U.S. service members who took part in the mine-clearance mission and thanked them. “Today, primary transit routes in the Strait of Hormuz remain free and clear of Iranian sea mines thanks to incredible efforts by our people,” he said.

Cooper also framed the trip as a signal to partners and the shipping industry. “We continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with our Gulf partners and the shipping industry,” he said, adding that the visit “underscores our strong commitment to continued freedom of navigation”. CENTCOM said it is working with the U.S. interagency, the Gulf Cooperation Council and the shipping industry to keep commercial traffic flowing. A photo released with the story shows Cooper alongside U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Brandon Tegtmeier, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, observing ship traffic from the helicopter.

Context: a contested waterway

The visit comes while the strait remains at the centre of the confrontation with Iran. Geopolitiki’s Iran war timeline 2026: Epic Fury, Hormuz and the US blockade traces how the crisis developed, and Iranian officials continue to publish their own claims about shipping in the strait, including a blacklist of vessels that Tehran says it considers non-compliant. Those Iranian assertions are disputed by Washington and its partners and are not covered in the CENTCOM release.

Planning for a wider international presence is also under way. As Geopolitiki reported, Strait of Hormuz: Britain and France lead planning of the multinational mission, with autonomous mine-hunting already in the region, a track separate from the U.S. effort described by CENTCOM.

The Strait of Hormuz is the narrow outlet of the Persian Gulf through which a large share of the Gulf’s oil exports passes, which is why both the mine threat and the freedom of navigation question draw attention far beyond the region. The CENTCOM release gives no timetable for any change in the U.S. posture and does not say how long the current support arrangement will continue.

Source: U.S. Central Command Public Affairs, via DVIDS.