Iran’s top military command has sharply rejected claims by U.S. President Donald Trump that Washington holds “total control” of the Strait of Hormuz, calling the assertions “lies and fabrications” and insisting the narrow waterway remains fully managed and supervised by Iranian forces. The denials came after Trump posted remarks on social media suggesting the United States was able to control commercial movement through the strategic chokepoint, heightening tensions at a moment when the Middle East conflict has broadened shipping risks and hardened diplomatic positions.
In a statement carried by state television, Ebrahim Zolfaghari, a spokesperson for Iran’s central military command, said the U.S. was falsely claiming that ships pass through the Strait of Hormuz under normal conditions. “The false claims of the United States that ships are passing through the Strait of Hormuz normally…are nothing more than lies and fabrications,” he said, according to the televised remarks reported by Euronews. Zolfaghari argued that such messaging ignores the fact that Iranian authorities have continued to oversee the strait’s operation.
The Iranian spokesperson went further, tying safe passage to Iranian permission and supervision. He said the Strait of Hormuz is, “as in the past,” under the “complete management and control” of the Islamic Republic of Iran. He added that no commercial ship or tanker would have, or would ever have, the possibility of safe passage without the permission and supervision of Iranian armed forces, framing Iran’s control as both operational and security-driven. Another Iranian security figure, Hossein Taeb, was also cited by state television as saying the strait remained under Iran’s management and that Iran would continue “on its path in complete security.”
Iran’s response aligns with a broader pattern of rebuttal to U.S. and allied statements about control of the waterway. Reporting from France 24 described how the military command’s spokesman directly challenged Trump’s wording, again characterizing it as false. The French outlet also reported that Iran has maintained control of the Strait of Hormuz since the start of a war on February 28, underscoring that the dispute is not new but part of an ongoing security posture tied to the conflict.
The controversy matters not only for regional security but also for global energy logistics. According to Al Jazeera, the Strait of Hormuz is a key flashpoint because roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas shipping moves through it during peacetime. In the current context, the waterway’s status has become intertwined with the wider dispute involving the United States and Israel, and with wider concerns about Iran’s war aims.
Al Jazeera also reported that peace talks have stalled until the question of who manages the strait is resolved, placing the chokepoint at the center of negotiations rather than as a peripheral issue. Iran’s messaging suggests it is not simply contesting legal or political language, but seeking to formalize an operational reality: that Iranian authorities remain the deciding factor for whether ships can transit safely. By rejecting Trump’s claim of U.S. control, Iran is effectively arguing that any diplomatic path must accept its role.
Parallel denials have been echoed by Iran’s diplomatic and political leadership. In a separate report, Iran’s Foreign Ministry rejected Trump’s claims—this time framed around statements that there had been “productive conversations” between Washington and Tehran—saying Iran’s position is to refuse negotiation before U.S. demands are met in line with Iran’s war objectives. As described by Ynet News, Iranian statements characterized Trump’s latest comments as a retreat from earlier threats, while insisting that Iran’s posture on Hormuz has not shifted and that passage would remain closed to “aggressors” attacking Iran.
Iranian lawmakers and officials have similarly portrayed the situation as a continuing contest in which U.S. pressure has not produced concessions. The Ynet report included comments attributed to a spokesman for a national security and foreign policy committee in Iran’s parliament, Ibrahim Rezaei, who said “the battle continues” and that Trump and the U.S. had again failed. Taken together, the statements suggest that Iran views the Hormuz dispute not as a technical matter to be negotiated quickly, but as a component of a broader confrontation where rhetorical claims by Washington are met with coordinated rebuttals.
Beyond the political argument over control, the wider region’s security environment has also raised the stakes for shipping. Al Jazeera reported that six people were killed in a Houthi attack on a Saudi cargo vessel in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, citing Yemeni authorities. The outlet described it as the first deaths from Houthi attacks on shipping since the U.S.-Israel war on Iran began. That development underscores how maritime risk in the region is not limited to the Strait of Hormuz, and how multiple chokepoints are increasingly exposed to conflict dynamics.
For shipping companies and energy markets, the dispute’s immediate implication is uncertainty about transit conditions. Iran’s military message emphasizes that safe passage requires Iranian permission and supervision, while other Iranian officials have insisted that the strait would remain closed to those Iran labels as aggressors. With the global importance of the Hormuz route, competing claims of control—whether by the United States or Iran—feed volatility and shape the operating assumptions of insurers, traders, and logistics planners.
As the messaging continues, the core issue remains unchanged in Iran’s framing: it rejects any U.S. assertion of unilateral control, insists on its own management of the passage, and ties the prospect of any change to demands and behavior it says must be accepted by Washington. Whether diplomacy can resume depends, according to the regional reporting, on resolving how the strait is governed—an outcome that Iran’s latest statements suggest it will define, not merely negotiate.
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