Iran's Basij paramilitary chief said Thursday that the Strait of Hormuz remains under Tehran's control, a day after President Trump said the United States held control of the waterway. Iran's joint military command separately warned that no vessel may transit without its permission, months after a June ceasefire collapsed and fighting between Washington and Tehran resumed.
According to Fars news, Iran's Basij chief Hossein Taeb said the Strait of Hormuz is "under Iran's control and management". Taeb, the paramilitary force's newly appointed head, made the remark on Thursday, a day after Trump said the United States had taken total control of the strategic waterway.
Taeb said the U.S. had tried to disrupt what he described as the Islamic Republic's popularity in the region by launching another war in the strait, but had again been defeated, despite claiming Iran had neither an air force nor a navy. He added that Iran was continuing on its course in complete security.
Rival militaries claim authority over transit
Iran's joint military command, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said separately on Thursday that no vessel could transit the Strait of Hormuz without Tehran's permission, rejecting U.S. statements about normal passage. That followed the U.S. imposing a naval blockade on Iranian shipping and ports while saying it would protect freedom of navigation for vessels sailing to and from non-Iranian ports.
The dispute traces back to fighting that began with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, after which Tehran effectively shut a strait that previously carried a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas. In June, the two sides reached an interim agreement declaring a permanent ceasefire, but the truce collapsed weeks later as both accused the other of violations, and Iran resumed limited attacks on vessels while the U.S. restarted strikes on Iran's southern provinces.
A diplomatic push for a new mechanism
Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, wrote on X that Khamenei's strategy would turn to offensive war if Tehran's conditions go unmet. He argued that a lasting order depends on an economic-security mechanism for Hormuz that doesn't rely on Washington's military guarantees, an apparent reference to an expected transit deal between Iran and Oman. Separately, senior military political official Rasoul Sanaei-Rad said Iran would not reopen the strait until the other side meets its interim-deal commitments, adding that reopening the waterway is not something the U.S. can achieve unilaterally, according to Fars news.
Roughly 20 million barrels per day of crude oil and petroleum products transited Hormuz in 2024. The waterway narrows to about 22 nautical miles at its tightest point, leaving little margin to reroute if the standoff over control escalates further.
Sources: Commodities & Futures News, Crypto Daily™
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