President Donald Trump claims total control over the Strait of Hormuz, but Iran has firmly disputed it. The latest shipping data reveals a starkly different reality from the claims made by both sides about the contested waterway.
Donald Trump and Iran remain locked in a standoff over the Strait of Hormuz
Iran’s Persian Gulf Authority directly challenged President Donald Trump’s claims of American control over the Strait of Hormuz.
The authority stated on X that “Claims and repeated posts by U.S. officials that the Strait of Hormuz is no longer blocked do not change the reality: the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked and will not be reopened until Iran’s conditions are accepted.” Trump had posted on Truth Social that “The U.S.A. has total control over the Strait of Hormuz. I THINK WE WILL KEEP IT!”
Data from trade intelligence firm Kpler paints a stark picture of the waterway’s status. Ship traffic through Hormuz sat at a five-day average of around 13 vessels on Tuesday. That figure represents nearly a three-month low since May 12. Traffic has dropped roughly 90% from the daily average of 130 ships before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28.
Both sides have simultaneously hardened their negotiating positions. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council laid out sweeping demands for reopening the strait over the weekend. These include an end to the U.S. naval blockade, sanctions relief, American troop withdrawals and war reparations. Washington and Tehran have also each demanded reparations from the other side.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Reza Naqdi, a top advisor to the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, escalated rhetoric further. He told PBS that “victory is on our side” and described Washington’s shifting objectives throughout the conflict. Naqdi added that “We saw confusion and bewilderment in America. It became a war without a strategy.”
Naqdi stated Iran’s goal was to “attain deterrence.” He suggested prolonging the conflict and causing attrition would impose costs on any future aggressor against Iran.
