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

Iran asserts full control over the Strait of Hormuz, challenging US claims of dominance in the strategic waterway.The commander of the paramilitary Basij Organisation said the Strait of Hormuz is “under Iran’s control and management”, a day after President Donald Trump claimed the United States was in “total control” of the waterway.“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,” Hojjatoleslam Hossein Taeb said in remarks on Thursday quoted by Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Trump says his decoy plane faced ‘greater risk’ in secret flight changelist 2 of 4Top Iranian commander visited Iraq to discuss disarmament plan: Sourcelist 3 of 4Iran is not anti-imperialist. It is a state calculating survivallist 4 of 4As Strait of Hormuz transit drops, Trump again says US has ‘control’end of list“The Americans saw the power of the Islamic revolution,” he added.The remarks came a day after Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that the US had “total control” of the strategic waterway.Since the start of the Iran" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="38342" data-entity-type="event">US-Israeli war on Iran on February 28, Tehran has in effect blocked the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas transited before the war.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 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.Also on Thursday, senior military political ‌official Rasoul Sanaei-Rad said that Iran would not reopen the strait unless the US fulfilled its commitments under the interim deal aimed at ending the war, adding that the reopening of the waterway was not something the US could achieve ‌unilaterally, ‌according to Fars news.