Ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has returned to levels seen before the conflict with Iran, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday, despite Tehran's claims that the strategic waterway had been closed.

Axar.az reports, citing Fox News, Wright said 67 ships transited the strait on Saturday, up from 55 the previous day.

“In terms of oil and oil products, about equal to where we were before the conflict,” he told Fox News, adding that “traffic is flowing through the Straits quite nicely” thanks to the U.S. military presence in the region.

He also said the United States has opened an alternative shipping route south of the strait and has been escorting vessels through it.

“We've been escorting ships through that for several weeks now, and at very high levels today,” Wright said, noting that Iran has not yet “demined” a central shipping channel.

The comments came after Tehran said it had again closed the Strait of Hormuz over Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon, a claim disputed by Washington.

President Donald Trump said 19 million barrels of oil passed through the strait on Saturday.