A Turkish-owned vessel that had been waiting near Iran was granted passage through the Strait of Hormuz after receiving permission from Tehran, Turkish Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu confirmed.

Speaking to Turkish media on Thursday, with the remarks released on Friday, Uraloglu noted that Ankara had issued the highest-level security alert for the strait and was maintaining ongoing contact with Iranian officials regarding the situation of 14 remaining Turkish-owned ships in the area.

“Fifteen ships (with Turkish owners) were there; we obtained permission from the Iranian authorities for one of them, which had used an Iranian port, and it passed,” Uraloglu stressed.

The ministry identified the vessel as the Rozana, noting that Turkish-owned ships in the region collectively carry 171 personnel.

This comes as the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) has lately stressed that the Strait of Hormuz is under the naval forces' control, warning that US aggressors and their partners have no right to cross the vital maritime passage. and that 76 flights had been diverted to Turkey since the outbreak of the US-Israeli aggression on February 28.

US officials failed to plan for Hormuz Strait 'worst-case scenario' 

The Pentagon and National Security Council reportedly underestimated Iran’s willingness to close the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for US military aggression, CNN reported earlier today, citing multiple sources familiar with planning.

According to the sources, US President Donald Trump’s national security team did not fully account for what some officials termed as a “worst-case scenario”, leaving the administration exposed to escalating economic and geopolitical consequences.

While senior officials from the departments of Energy and Treasury attended some planning meetings prior to the operation, sources said that the analyses and forecasts that would normally guide such high-stakes decisions were treated as secondary considerations. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Energy Secretary Chris Wright have remained central figures throughout the planning and execution stages of the war, the sources noted.

However, Trump’s preference for relying on a tight circle of close advisors reportedly limited broader interagency debate over the potential economic fallout, particularly the impact on global energy markets if Iran were to respond by closing the strategic waterway.

Officials acknowledged that it may take weeks before the administration can mitigate the intensifying economic disruptions. High-risk naval escorts of oil tankers through the strait, considered critical to maintaining oil flow, are currently viewed by the Pentagon as too dangerous to conduct. Meanwhile, Trump has continued to publicly downplay the turmoil in energy markets.

Disbelief hits industry execs, former US officials

The situation in the Strait of Hormuz has left diplomatic counterparts, former US economic and energy officials, and industry executives in a state of confusion and disbelief, sources told CNN.

“Planning around preventing this exact scenario, impossible as it has long seemed, has been a bedrock principle of US national security policy for decades,” said a former US official who served in both Republican and Democratic administrations. “I’m dumbfounded.”

Shipping industry executives have repeatedly requested military escorts from the US Navy, all of which have reportedly been denied. In regular briefings, US military officials have emphasized that they have not received orders to conduct escort operations and that risks to US assets in the region remain extremely high, according to two industry executives familiar with the matter.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Sky News’ Wilfred Frost on Thursday that escort operations would begin “as soon as it is militarily possible,” adding that “that was always in our planning, that there’s a chance that US Navy, or perhaps an international coalition, will be escorting oil tankers through,” he said.

Shortly after Bessent's remarks, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said that the US Navy is currently unable to escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, noting that such operations may only become possible later this month.

Speaking in an interview for CNBC, Wright said the Pentagon is working on the issue but acknowledged that the US military is not yet prepared to secure tanker passage through the strategic waterway.

Sources noted that the current situation reflects a complex convergence of geopolitical assumptions, energy market forecasts, and cross-cutting strategic priorities.

Trump admin admits it did not plan for closure of Hormuz Strait

Top Trump administration officials acknowledged to lawmakers during recent classified briefings that they had not planned for the possibility of Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz in response to US aggression, according to three sources familiar with the closed-door sessions.

Multiple sources said the administration believed that a closure would inflict more damage on Iran than on the United States. That assumption was reinforced by Iran’s previous empty threats to act in the Strait following US aggression on Iranian nuclear facilities last summer.

In a statement on Thursday, the White House defended its planning. “Through a detailed planning process, the entire administration is and was prepared for any potential action taken by the terrorist Iranian regime,” spokeswoman Anna Kelly said, while highlighting US military successes. She added, “President Trump has been clear that any disruptions to energy are temporary and will result in a massive benefit to our country and the global economy in the long-term.”

Current and former US officials told CNN that military plans historically account for the possibility of Iran closing the waterway, which remains a critical corridor for global energy supplies.

But with global oil and LNG supplies abundant, US oil production at record highs, a cooperative Venezuelan government, and potential rapid expansion of new production from former adversaries, officials said the administration largely downplayed the global risks. Sources noted that even when considering potential disruption in the strait, the focus remained on the administration’s optimistic, if aspirational, view of market responses to "eliminating the Iranian threat entirely."

Hormuz closure is strategic leverage

In a related development, Sayyed Mojtaba Khamenei, the third leader of Iran's Revolution and the Islamic Republic of Iran, pledged that Iran will continue its retaliation against US and Israeli military targets while maintaining the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Sayyed Khamenei also stressed the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz as an essential strategic tool in Iran’s response to the ongoing US-Israeli aggression.

“The use of the lever of closing the Strait of Hormuz must certainly continue,” he said, arguing that the measure remains a key instrument in the war against the country's adversaries.

The Strait is one of the world’s most critical maritime chokepoints for global energy shipments, and any prolonged closure could have major implications for international oil markets.