Iran claims control of Strait of Hormuz, rejects Trump's assertion

Basij paramilitary force commander Hossein Taeb declared on August 13 that the Strait of Hormuz is under Iran's "control and management," just one day after U.S. President Donald Trump asserted that Washington has "complete control" over the strategic waterway. The remarks were reported by Iran's semi-official Fars news agency.

"Today, you see the Strait of Hormuz under the management and control of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and our country continues on its path in absolute security," Taeb said in a speech on Thursday. He also stressed: "The Americans have seen the power of the Islamic Revolution."

The statement came after Trump wrote on Truth Social that the U.S. has "complete control" over the vital waterway.

Since the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran began on February 28, Tehran has effectively blockaded the Strait of Hormuz—a chokepoint that, before the war, saw one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas transit. In response, the U.S. imposed a naval blockade on Iranian vessels and ports and pledged to protect freedom of navigation for ships to and from non-Iranian ports.

Iran's Joint Military Command Khatam al-Anbiya declared the same day that no vessel could pass through the Strait of Hormuz without Tehran's permission. In a statement carried by state media, the command dismissed U.S. claims of normal ship traffic through the strait as "nothing more than lies and distortions."

Also on August 13, senior military-political official Rasoul Sanaei-Rad said Iran would not reopen the strait unless the U.S. fulfills commitments in the interim agreement to end the war. According to Fars, Sanaei-Rad emphasized that reopening the waterway is not something the U.S. can achieve unilaterally. He warned that Iran would respond more forcefully in any future conflict: "In a possible war, we will stand firmer and strike harder."

Earlier, in June, the two countries reached an interim agreement extending a ceasefire in effect since April and called for the rapid restoration of freedom of navigation in the Gulf. However, that deal collapsed weeks later when Iran resumed limited attacks on vessels it deemed contrary to the agreements, prompting the U.S. to resume airstrikes on southern Iranian provinces to weaken Tehran's ability to target ships in the Gulf.

Analyst Michael Stephens of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) said Iran is seeking to prolong the war, believing that economic pressure does not threaten the survival of its government. "That existential threat is gone. So they want to speed up and possibly make President Trump feel more pain. The best way to do that is to drag this out," Stephens said.

For his part, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi argued that the U.S. "has long miscalculated due to intelligence failures," including when it launched the war against Iran. In a post on X, Araghchi said Washington's actions in the Strait of Hormuz are "an even bigger miscalculation." "Worse than fake news is fake intelligence," the Iranian diplomat wrote.