WASHINGTON, March 14. /TASS/. The United States will soon begin providing escorts for oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, US President Donald Trump told journalists.

"It will soon happen," he said in response to the corresponding question.

The United States and Israel launched a military operation against Iran on February 28. Major Iranian cities, including Tehran, were struck. The White House justified the attack by citing alleged missile and nuclear threats from Iran.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced a retaliatory operation, targeting sites in Israel. US military bases in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were also hit. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and some other key Iranian leaders were killed in the joint US-Israeli attack.

On March 2, Major General of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC, elite army units) Ebrahim Jabari warned that the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world's oil exports pass, will be closed to ships due to the military operation of Israel and the United States against the Islamic republic.

On March 5, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that the strait was not closed, but ships and tankers were not crossing it for fear of attacks from both sides. The US-Israeli military operation against Iran has led to a significant rise in oil prices. Later, the crude prices declined.