Iran says manages Hormuz Strait after Trump claims US control

TEHRAN: A senior Iranian official said on Thursday that the Strait of Hormuz remains under the control of the Islamic republic after President Donald Trump claimed US control over the strategic 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,” said Hossein Taeb, head of the paramilitary Basij forces affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, according to state television.

The comments came a day after Trump said his country is controlling the strait, 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.

The US has repeatedly claimed control over the strait, with Iran rejecting the claims saying it effectively controls the waterway and intends to impose a toll system.

Iran’s top diplomat Abbas Araghchi on Thursday said the US makes miscalculations in regard to the waterway.

“The U.S. has long miscalculated due to intelligence failures. Case in point: The war on Iran. Now, an even bigger miscalculation on the Strait of Hormuz,” he said on X.

Also on Thursday, Iranian parliamentarian and member of the National Security Commission Behnam Saeedi said the strait is closed to US and Israeli ships.

“Ships belonging to the Zionist regime will not have the right to pass through the Strait of Hormuz under any circumstances, whether in war or peacetime,” he told state TV, adding that “US military ships will also be barred from passing through the Strait”.

Iran and Oman have been in talks to establish a new route through the strait, but negotiations have not yet been finalised.

Tehran, however, says even if the talks produce a new route, that would not on its own open the waterway unless the US meets Iran’s demands.