Iran, US make competing claims over control of Hormuz

The Strait of Hormuz is "under Iran's control and ​management," the recently ⁠appointed head of Iran's Basij paramilitary unit said Hossein Taeb on Thursday, a ‌day after US President Donald Trump said ‌the United States had "total control" of the strategic waterway.

In a Wednesday Truth Social post, Trump claimed that the US "has total control over the Strait of Hormuz. I THINK WE WILL KEEP IT!" "Our Naval Blockade is being called, by everyone, 'A WALL OF STEEL,' and there is nothing Iran can do about it," he added.

On Thursday, the head of Iran's paramilitary Basij forces under the Revolutionary Guards also said that the strait was under Iranian control.

Taeb said the US had sought to disrupt what he described as the Islamic Republic's popularity in the region by launching another war in the ‌Strait of Hormuz, but had once more been defeated despite claiming Iran had neither an air force ⁠nor a navy.

"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 according to state television.

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

After the start of the war, which began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb.28, Tehran effectively shut the strait, through which a fifth of the ​world's oil and liquefied natural gas was previously shipped.

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 later 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.

Separately on Thursday, senior military political official Rasoul Sanaei-Rad said that Iran would not reopen the strait unless the other side fulfilled its commitments under ⁠the interim deal, adding that the reopening of the waterway was not something the US ​can achieve unilaterally, according to Fars news.

Sanaei-Rad also warned that Iran would respond more forcefully in any future conflict, saying: "In a possible future war, we will stand more firmly and ⁠more offensively."

Reuters