The US Apache helicopter, which crashed near the Strait of Hormuz, was involved in a mission to transfer oil out of the Middle East.
The crash happened while the helicopter was on a patrol off the coast of Oman at about 3.30am last week, the US military’s Central Command said in a later statement.
A new investigation from Reuters has now revealed that the helicopter was actually involved in a US military operation, which allegedly transferred oil from ship-to-ship, to keep energy exports flowing.
The operation, overseen by the US military, also ‘utilised aerial and water drones to guide oil convoys’ to waiting tankers.
The oil transfers began in early May, satellite imagery found, and the Apache helicopter was reportedly involved in the operation – though it’s unclear in what capacity.
The US Defence Department said no forces in the Middle East are currently taking part in offshore ship-to-ship oil transfers.
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The technique isn’t new – Iranians have used it for years to get past sanctions and mask the source of its oil.
Initial estimates from Reuters calculated that at least 90 million barrels of crude oil may have been transferred through the US-linked operation since May.
The Strait of Hormuz is crucial to significant shipments of oil, natural gas and related products like fertiliser, and its effective closure rocked the global economy.
About a fifth of the world’s oil is transited through the shipping lane, which splits Iran on one side and Oman and the UAE on the other, and links the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea in the Indian Ocean.
Yesterday, the US announced that a peace deal with Iran ‘is now complete,’ with the Strait set to be reopened without tolls.
The deal between Iran and the US returns the region to a status that existed before the war, but with thousands of people dead and Iran wielding a new source of negotiating pressure with its ability to influence transits of the strait.
Tehran has emphasised that it wanted a deal to focus on ending the war, with discussions put off until later on its nuclear program — the issue at the centre of it all.
Iran has 440.9 kilograms (972 pounds) of uranium that is enriched up to 60% purity, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Iran has long maintained its nuclear program is peaceful and has not publicly committed to giving up the enriched uranium, which is believed to be buried under three nuclear sites that were badly damaged by US strikes last year.
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