Brad Cooper, commander of the US military's Central Command (CENTCOM), in a video published on Friday, November 8 on the CENTCOM user account on Channel X, announced that during the flight over the Strait of Hormuz, he saw dozens of American commercial ships and military equipment, but he saw no traces of the presence of the Revolutionary Guards. "When I flew over the Strait of Hormuz, I saw dozens of commercial ships, including oil tankers and LNG carriers, but there was no sign of the Revolutionary Guards," he said. Cooper added that the Revolutionary Guards have patrolled the Strait of Hormuz and its surrounding waters for decades, but he said the Iranian navy was stunned by the US strikes earlier this year. The Centcom commander also announced that US forces have cleared Iranian naval mines from the main shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz and are still present to protect commercial ships in the area. He said the US has blocked Iran's oil exports by blockading Iran's ports and helped its Persian Gulf partners export more than 1.5 billion barrels of crude oil since the summer.

Brad Cooper, commander of the US military's Central Command (CENTCOM), in a video published on Friday, November 8 on the CENTCOM user account on Channel X, announced that during the flight over the Strait of Hormuz, he saw dozens of American commercial ships and military equipment, but he saw no traces of the presence of the Revolutionary Guards. "When I flew over the Strait of Hormuz, I saw dozens of commercial ships, including oil tankers and LNG carriers, but there was no sign of the Revolutionary Guards," he said. Cooper added that the Revolutionary Guards have patrolled the Strait of Hormuz and its surrounding waters for decades, but he said the Iranian navy was stunned by the US strikes earlier this year. The Centcom commander also announced that US forces have cleared Iranian naval mines from the main shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz and are still present to protect commercial ships in the area. He said the US has blocked Iran's oil exports by blockading Iran's ports and helped its Persian Gulf partners export more than 1.5 billion barrels of crude oil since the summer.