A senior Iranian official asserted on Thursday that the Islamic Republic maintains management and full control over the Strait of Hormuz, countering recent statements by U.S. President Donald Trump claiming total American authority over the strategic maritime route.
“Today, you see that the Strait of Hormuz is under the management and control of the Islamic Republic, and our country continues on its path in complete security,” said Hossein Taeb, head of the paramilitary Basij forces affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, according to state television.
Meanwhile, the remarks comes barely twenty four hours after Trump said US has full control country over Hormuz, vital for the flow of global energy.
“The U.S.A. has total control over the Strait of Hormuz. I THINK WE WILL KEEP IT!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday.
“Our Naval Blockade is being called, by everyone, ‘A WALL OF STEEL,’ and there is nothing Iran can do about it,” he added.
Tehran continues to reject Washington’s claims of authority over the strategic choke point, asserting that it maintains effective control over the waterway and outlining plans to introduce a toll system for passing maritime traffic.
Iran’s top diplomat, Abbas Araghchi, stated on Thursday that the United States is operating under severe intelligence failures regarding the waterway, posting on X: “The U.S. has long miscalculated due to intelligence failures… Now, an even bigger miscalculation on the Strait of Hormuz.”
Reinforcing Tehran’s hardline stance, Behnam Saeedi, an Iranian lawmaker and member of the National Security Commission, announced on state television that Israeli vessels—under both wartime and peacetime conditions—and U.S. military ships are strictly prohibited from navigating the strait.
Backstory…
Iran’s latest claim comes amid a prolonged dispute over who controls the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important energy and shipping chokepoints.
The waterway has remained at the centre of the conflict between Tehran and Washington since the US-Israeli war with Iran began in February, with Iran imposing restrictions on maritime traffic while the United States has repeatedly rejected Tehran’s claims of control.
The European Union has also accused Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy of restricting lawful transit through the strait.
The issue has become particularly contentious in recent weeks, with US President Donald Trump claiming that the United States has “total control” of the waterway, while Iranian officials have repeatedly insisted that Tehran remains in charge. Earlier in July, the US military said traffic was still flowing and rejected Iran’s assertion that it had closed the strait.
