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Hormuz Control Clash
President Donald Trump said the United States has “total control” of the Strait of Hormuz, while Iran’s Basij commander Hossein Taeb insisted the waterway is “under the control and governance of the Islamic Republic,” according to remarks quoted by Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency.
“Today you see that the Strait of Hormuz is under the management and control of the Islamic Republic”
Iran’s joint military command, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said “no vessel could transit the Strait of Hormuz without Tehran’s permission,” and it rejected U.S. claims as “lies and falsehoods.”
The dispute is tied to the war that began with American and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, when Tehran in effect blocked the strait and the United States imposed a naval blockade on Iranian shipping and ports.
In parallel, the U.S. military position was reiterated by Pete Hegseth, who told reporters that “The US Navy can continue to enforce this blockade indefinitely,” while Iran reaffirmed its control over the strait.
The competing narratives also fed into Iran’s argument that the strait would not reopen unless the United States fulfilled its commitments under the interim deal, with senior military political official Rasoul Sanaei-Rad saying Iran would not reopen the strait unless the other side fulfills its commitments under the temporary agreement.
Attacks, Blockade, Shipping
In the Strait of Hormuz, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company said two of its vessels were attacked while traveling through the strait Thursday evening, and the report aired on the United Arab Emirates’ state news agency WAM said there were no reports of injuries.
NewsNation also described how traffic through the strait has fallen to a three-month low, while oil stockpiles are rapidly diminishing, as the Trump administration leans on crippling sanctions and a U.S. naval blockade to force Iran back to the table.
The Hill’s Ryan Mancini reported that Fox News host Bret Baier pushed back on Trump’s claim of total control, saying traffic has slowed “to a trickle,” with 14 vessels passing the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday and eight crossing it Monday.
CNN cited Carl Schuster, former director of the US Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center, saying “Until you can ensure safe use of the strait, you do not have total control,” as ships fear for their safety amid attacks on vessels.
CNN further said UKMTO recorded “54 reports of damage to vessels in the strait,” alongside three confirmed total losses and 13 near misses, while the U.S. blockade remained in effect barring ships from going to or from any Iranian port either inside or outside the strait.
Diplomacy and Regional Stakes
While the U.S. and Iran traded claims of control, mediators in Qatar announced that negotiations between Iran and Oman over the Strait of Hormuz have reached an advanced stage, with Majed al-Ansari saying: “Our main priority here is the reopening of the strait, maintaining the ceasefire and making sure that we are able to push forward towards the negotiation.”
“Our main priority here is the reopening of the strait, maintaining the ceasefire”
Democracy Now! reported that the United States Navy fired on a Panama-flagged cargo ship attempting to break the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports in the Gulf of Oman, with missile strikes reportedly targeting the ship’s engine room and leaving it disabled.
The same report said six people were killed and 10 others wounded when Iran-allied Houthi fighters attacked a ship in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and it noted that the Houthis declared a naval blockade of Saudi ports last month.
In Yemen, U.N. envoy Hans Grundberg warned on Thursday that Yemen faces its most serious threat of a return to large-scale war since a U.N.-brokered truce in 2022, and U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher told the council that more than half the population faced acute food insecurity.
Against that backdrop, the U.N. warning linked renewed Houthi attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden to the risk of drawing Yemen further into wider regional confrontation, as regional trade and energy flows were already under pressure from the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz.
