No solid evidence Argentine navy deployed warships to Strait of Hormuz to protect oil tankers – Snopes
Publish Date: 2026-03-19 20:09:00
Source Domain: nuevoenfoqueurbano.com.ar
Claim:
In mid-March 2026, Argentina announced it was sending warships to reopen the Strait of Hormuz after a request from the U.S., becoming became the first country to do so.
Rating:
Starting on March 18, 2026, posts appeared on social media claiming that Argentina deployed several frigates to accompany oil tankers and other ships sailing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The posts appeared as the United States and Israel exchanged missile strikes with Iran, some of which targeted oil and natural gas facilities across the region.
Since Feb. 28, 2026, when the war began, Iran has prevented ships from sailing through the Strait of Hormuz, half of which lies within Iranian territorial waters. The strait is 20 miles across at its narrowest point, well within range of an attack from the Iranian mainland. It’s also a critical chokepoint for global energy production because ships passing through it carry a large amount of oil and natural gas output from the Middle East.
The posts about Argentina likely spread because they played off U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion of a naval coalition to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. However, Snopes found no evidence supporting the claim that Argentina had sent ships to participate in such an endeavor, and an early post sharing the rumor appeared to have been generated with artificial intelligence. As such, we’ve rated this claim false.
We contacted the Argentine navy for comment on the allegation, but they had not responded at time of publication.
Snopes checked both international and Argentine news outlets for potential announcements of the decision. We also checked the social media accounts of Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, who has verbally aligned himself with the U.S. and Israel.
However, there was no word from any source suggesting Argentina had committed to assisting in reopening the strait.
Several of the posts sharing the claim cited the Facebook page American Resolve as the source of the…
