Trump Claims Total US Control of Strait of Hormuz as Iran Rejects Assertions

Competing Claims Emerge Over Control of the Strait of Hormuz

Writing on his Truth Social platform, President Trump declared that the United States has total control over the Strait of Hormuz. I THINK WE WILL KEEP IT! as reported by Euronews. Trump further described the U.S. naval presence as a WALL OF STEEL asserting that Iran has no ability to challenge it.

Iranian Military and Leadership Reject U.S. Assertions

Iranian authorities have strongly pushed back against the American declarations. Hossein Taeb, the recently appointed head of Iran’s Basij paramilitary unit, asserted that Today you see that the Strait of Hormuz is under the management and control of the Islamic Republic, according to statements covered by The Globe and Mail. Taeb contended that Washington launched the conflict to disrupt Iranian regional popularity but had failed.

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Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesperson for Iran’s central military command, dismissed the American assertions as fabrications, stating in a video carried by state television that The false claims of the United States that ships are passing through the Strait of Hormuz normally…are nothing more than lies and fabrications, as detailed by Euronews. The Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters similarly maintained that no vessel could safely transit the strait without explicit permission and supervision from Iranian armed forces.

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Background of the Conflict and Unraveling Ceasefire

Hostilities in the region escalated following U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran that began on February 28, prompting Tehran to effectively shut down the vital waterway. In response, the United States imposed a naval blockade targeting Iranian shipping and ports while vowing to protect freedom of navigation for vessels traveling to and from non-Iranian ports.

Although the two nations reached an interim agreement in June establishing a permanent ceasefire and aiming to restore Gulf shipping, that deal quickly unraveled. Iran resumed limited attacks on vessels it claimed were operating outside the agreement’s terms, which triggered renewed U.S. strikes on southern Iranian provinces intended to degrade Tehran’s targeting capabilities.

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Conditions for Reopening and Regional Fallout

Senior Iranian political and military figures have signaled that the waterway will remain restricted until diplomatic terms are met. Rasoul Sanaei-Rad stated that Iran will not reopen the strait unless opposing parties fulfill their commitments under the dissolved interim deal, emphasizing that the reopening is not a step the U.S. can achieve unilaterally, as reported by WSJ.

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Meanwhile, Persian Gulf energy producers are increasingly worried that ongoing disruptions and an antagonistic security environment will become permanent, threatening regional energy exports indefinitely even as they seek to avoid a wider military escalation.