The State Department is resupplying the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait via “alternative routes” because transit through the Strait of Hormuz is “unreliable and dangerous,” according to a contracting notice the department posted Sunday.
“The security situation in the region remains fluid and subject to sudden escalation,” the department wrote in a vendor notice posted to a government contracting website — a statement undercutting President Donald Trump’s assertions that the strait is open and under U.S. control.
As recently as last week, Trump claimed that the Iranian navy was “gone” and the strait was open for business.
“You watch what’s gonna happen to Iran, it’s gonna be a really good conclusion,” Trump said at a rally in North Carolina on Wednesday. “We have the strait open, we have all this thing and they’ve been decimated. Their navy’s gone, their air force is gone.”
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It’s hardly the first time Trump has made such a proclamation:
“We control the strait, 100%.”
“We have total control over the strait. … The strait is open.”’
“The strait is open. We take a lot of ships through the strait now. … It’s a very functioning strait.”
The claims, made by the president on Aug. 10, 17 and 26, respectively, are just some of those highlighted by the White House as it tries to convince the American public that it is winning the deeply unpopular war.
The State Department said in the vendor notice that it considered three vendors before choosing one capable of transporting freight to the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait via unspecified “alternative routes,” as regional instability rendered “standard shipping routes unreliable or unavailable.” That embassy is located near the Persian Gulf’s northern shore, in close proximity to Iran.
A few ships passed through the strait this weekend, NBC News reported, but shipping traffic is only a fraction of what’s considered normal during peacetime.
“Recurring, rapid changes in regional security conditions are affecting carrier availability, shipping routes, transit times, insurance requirements, and overall logistics reliability with little advance notice,” the notice reads.
The selected contractor — the government did not disclose its identity — quoted $26,908 for its services and has a “strong record of relevant past performance supporting U.S. Embassy Kuwait requirements.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
The State Department told The Washington Sun in a statement that “despite Iran’s aggressive actions, the U.S. military has successfully assisted more than 2,000 commercial vessels in transiting the Strait of Hormuz and facilitated the transport of more than one billion barrels of crude oil.”
“The United States will not permit Iran to disrupt navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and hold the global economy hostage. We will continue to take decisive action against Iran’s attempts to do so,” the statement said. “We continue to coordinate closely with partners in the region and around the world to ensure that Iran’s unlawful obstruction of international shipping will never be normalized.”
The United States first attacked Iran on Feb. 28; next week, the war will hit its seven-month mark. Trump cut short a trip to Camp David this weekend as he weighs his next moves in his war, saying he may “blow the entire nation up.”
The Kuwait Embassy and others in the region issued security alerts on Saturday, warning of the Houthis’ “hostilities against Saudi Arabia” and writing, “This military conflict has the potential to escalate rapidly.”
Iran, for its part, warned Monday that it would consider expanding “the geography” of the war if the United States escalated attacks. Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is scheduled to travel to New York City on Tuesday for the United Nations General Assembly, and Trump has suggested that he’s willing to meet with Pezeshkian.
This article has been updated to include a statement from the State Department.
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