Iran Claims Control of Hormuz

PHOTO CAPTION: Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, August 3, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer

DUBAI, Aug. 13 — The Strait of Hormuz is “under Iran’s control and management,” the recently appointed head of Iran’s Basij paramilitary force said Thursday, one day after President Donald Trump said the United States had “total control” of the strategic waterway.

Hossein Taeb said Washington had sought to undermine what he described as Iran’s regional standing by launching another war in the Strait of Hormuz, but had again been defeated despite claims that Iran lacked effective air and naval forces.

“Today you see that the Strait of Hormuz is under the management and control of the Islamic Republic,” Taeb said, according to the semi-official Fars news agency, adding that Iran was continuing on its course in what he described as complete security.

The war began with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb. 28. Tehran subsequently effectively shut the strait, through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas had previously been shipped.

The United States later imposed a naval blockade on Iranian shipping and ports while saying it would protect freedom of navigation for vessels traveling to and from non-Iranian ports.

In June, Washington and Tehran reached an interim agreement declaring a permanent ceasefire and calling for a rapid return to freedom of navigation in the Gulf. The agreement unraveled several weeks later after Iran resumed limited attacks on vessels it said were operating contrary to the deal, prompting the United States to restart strikes on Iran’s southern provinces.

Washington said those strikes were intended to degrade Tehran’s ability to target vessels in the Gulf.

Separately Thursday, senior Iranian military political official Rasoul Sanaei-Rad said Tehran would not reopen the Strait of Hormuz unless the other side fulfilled its commitments under the interim agreement. He said reopening the waterway was not something the United States could accomplish unilaterally, according to Fars.

Sanaei-Rad also warned that Iran would respond more aggressively in any future conflict.

“In a possible future war, we will stand more firmly and more offensively,” he said.

(Source: Reuters)