President Donald Trump on Wednesday said the United States “has total control over the Strait of Hormuz,” adding, “I think we will keep it.”
Trump, in a Truth Social post, touted the strength of the U.S. naval blockade amid the continuing war with Iran and Tehran’s efforts to restrict shipping through one of the world’s most important energy chokepoints.
“Our Naval Blockade is being called, by everyone, ‘A WALL OF STEEL,’ and there is nothing Iran can do about it,” Trump wrote.
The president portrayed Tehran as increasingly weakened by months of conflict, saying Iran has “no Navy” or “Air Force” and asserting that the Islamic.
Revolutionary Guard Corps has been “decimated.” He also pointed to Iran’s severe economic problems and inflation. “Iran is all talk and no action, the Bully of the Middle East No Longer,” Trump wrote.
His declaration came as commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained dramatically below prewar levels. Only eight vessels were tracked in the strait Tuesday, the lowest daily total since Aug. 5, according to Kpler data.
That compares with roughly 130 to 140 ships that typically passed through the strategic waterway before Iran moved to close it following the start of U.S.-Israeli attacks Feb. 28. Seven of Tuesday’s vessels were entering the strait and used the Iranian route, while only one ship, a coal carrier, exited.
