US military says it's helped two ships transit the Strait of Hormuz
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 4 May 2026
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The US military's Central Command says two US-flagged merchant ships have passed through the Hormuz strait with its assistance.
But a huge number of vessels and crew remain stranded. Can Donald Trump deliver on his promise to break the Iranian blockade?
Also in the programme: The leaders of Europe and Canada stress a new unified approach to security, amid strained relations with the US; pet rescue scammers in Uganda; and the multi-billion dollar bid to buy eBay.
(Photo shows vessels in the Strait of Hormuz near Bandar Abbas, Iran on 4 May 2026. Credit: Amirhosein KhorgooiWest Asia News Agency via Reuters)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:09.3 | Hello and welcome to NewsHour. |
| 0:11.4 | It's coming to you live from the BBC World Service studios in central London. |
| 0:15.2 | I'm Tim Franks. |
| 0:16.5 | We're beginning, as we often do, with a question, what is going on? |
| 0:21.0 | And in particular, what is going on in the Strait of Hormuz, that critical waterway, |
| 0:25.3 | where transit has been dramatically reduced as a result of the U.S.-Iran conflict. |
| 0:29.9 | The reason it's a particular question today is because of President Trump's announcement |
| 0:33.7 | that as of mid-morning, Middle East time, in other words, a few hours ago, the US |
| 0:38.8 | would begin freeing the merchant ships that have been trapped by Iran's blockade. I say |
| 0:45.0 | freeing. What Mr. Trump and his regional commanders indicated wasn't a full military escort, |
| 0:50.8 | but they would somehow guide those stranded vessels. |
| 0:55.7 | Iranian Central Command issued a swift repost, passage through the strait they said |
| 1:00.4 | had to be coordinated with them, no one else. The US military has since said that its warships |
| 1:06.7 | have helped two US flagflagged vessels transit. |
| 1:16.2 | Anya Strunan is a reporter for the Norwegian broadcaster NRK. |
| 1:18.6 | She's been out in the Strait of Hormuz in the last couple of days. |
| 1:21.4 | What's her understanding of what's going on? |
| 1:31.5 | From what I see in all the news bulletin here, it's really, really tense now. What really happened, nobody really knows. |
| 1:39.3 | Should they believe Iranian authorities or should they believe the US who said that nothing has happened, |
| 1:45.1 | that they are actually going to help the ships get through the state of Hormuz. |
| 1:46.6 | We don't know. |
... |
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