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

What the report says

Iran has rejected President Donald Trump’s claim that the United States is in “total control” of the Strait of Hormuz, with senior Iranian officials saying the strategic waterway remains under Tehran’s authority. The comments, reported by Al Jazeera on Thursday, came from Hojjatoleslam Hossein Taeb, commander of the Basij Organisation, and from Iran’s joint military command, which said ships could not pass through the strait without Iranian permission.

The dispute comes amid the broader Iran-US conflict over maritime access and military pressure in the Gulf. Al Jazeera reported that Trump made his remarks on Truth Social a day earlier. Iranian state media and officials responded by calling the US claims false and insisting that the Islamic Republic continues to manage the strait in what they described as full security. The Strait of Hormuz is a critical shipping route for global energy supplies, including oil and liquefied natural gas.

The report also said Iranian officials linked any reopening or easing of restrictions in the strait to US compliance with interim war-related commitments. A senior Iranian military political official warned that Tehran would respond more forcefully in a future conflict. Al Jazeera, citing analyst Michael Stephens of the Royal United Services Institute, said Iran appears willing to extend the confrontation because it no longer sees an immediate existential threat to its government. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi separately accused Washington of misreading the situation and relying on faulty intelligence.