Ships near the Strait of Hormuz, seen from Musandam, Oman, on Aug. 6, 2026. (Credit: Stringer/Reuters)
A senior Iranian official said Thursday that the Strait of Hormuz remains under the control of Iran, following U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim a day earlier that the United States controls the strategic waterway.
“Today, you see that the Strait of Hormuz is managed and controlled by the Islamic Republic, and that our country continues on its path in complete security,” said Hossein Taeb, head of the Basij paramilitary forces affiliated with the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to state television.
Trump, who now appears to favor a more cautious approach to Iran, repeated Wednesday on his Truth Social network that the United States had “total” control of the Strait of Hormuz and would “keep” it.
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the United States is “making an even greater miscalculation regarding the Strait of Hormuz” than with the “war against Iran” launched at the end of February, according to a message posted on his X account. “The United States has long been wrong in its calculations because of intelligence failures,” he wrote. “Worse than false information: false intelligence. Be careful. Allah is great, greater than ANY power on earth. In Allah we place our trust,” concluded Iran’s top diplomat.
In reality, the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic route for global oil trade, is controlled by Iran, while the United States has imposed a blockade on Iranian ports. Hostilities between the two countries resumed at the beginning of July, when the protocol agreement settled in June to permanently end the war in the Middle East fell apart. Strikes have since subsided, with Trump saying that negotiations are underway with Iran, which Iran has denied, saying it is only talking with Oman about a future route to cross the Strait of Hormuz.
