Iran says Strait of Hormuz under its control, rejects Trump claims

The commander of the paramilitary Basij Organisation said the Strait of Hormuz is “under Iran’s control and management”, a day after President Donald Trump claimed the United States was in “total control” of the waterway.

“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,” Hojjatoleslam Hossein Taeb said in remarks on Thursday quoted by Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency.

“The Americans saw the power of the Islamic revolution,” he added.

The remarks came a day after Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that the US had “total control” of the strategic waterway.

Since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran on February 28, Tehran has in effect blocked the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas transited before the war.

The US subsequently imposed a naval blockade on Iranian shipping and ports, while saying it would protect freedom of navigation for vessels travelling to and from non-Iranian ports.

Iran’s joint military ⁠command, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said on Thursday that no vessel could transit ⁠the Strait of Hormuz without Tehran’s permission.

“The baseless claims made by the United States regarding the normal passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz … are nothing more than lies and falsehoods,” the command said in a statement published by state media.