It was part of Operation Earnest Will, 1987-88, during the Reagan Administration.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Earnest_Will
This applied to just Kuwaiti ships and it was during the Iran-Iraq war. We also were more dependent on oil from the Middle East.
The two tankers that were just damaged are registered in Panama and some other country. The two situations are not analogous.
Also, the Kuwaiti tankers were not reflagged. We protected them, but their registry was not transferred to the US.