Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned Washington to “be careful” on Thursday, after President Donald Trump insisted the US has full control of the Strait of Hormuz.
“Worse than fake news is fake intelligence,” Araghchi posted on X. “The U.S. has long miscalculated due to intelligence failures. Case in point: The war on Iran. Now, an even bigger miscalculation on the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.
On Wednesday, Trump stated, “The USA has total control over the Strait of Hormuz.” “I THINK WE WILL KEEP IT! Our Naval Blockade is being called, by everyone, “A WALL OF STEEL,” he posted on Truth Social. “There is nothing Iran can do about it.
“They have no Navy, they have no Air Force, their remaining soldiers are unpaid, the IRGC is decimated and fleeing,” added Trump.
Other senior officials in Tehran have also doubled down, with Hossein Taeb – a hardline militia figure and close ally of the Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei – saying that, “The US started another war in the Strait of Hormuz but has failed,” despite “Washington’s view that Iran lacked effective naval and air forces,” according to the semi-official Iranian agency, Fars News.
Remember: Tehran and Washington have tried to leverage the Strait of Hormuz as a bargaining chip in scuppered peace talks – with both parties repeatedly claiming sovereignty over the waterway. That diplomatic impasse has effectively stalled shipping in the strait, through which about one fifth of global oil supplies passed before the war.
