US rejects Iran's claim of Hormuz closure

US Central Command has rejected Iran's assertion that the Strait of Hormuz is closed, stating that traffic continues. Commercial and energy traffic flows through the waterway, including substantial oil shipments. Iranian officials have expressed their commitment to ensuring security in the Strait and have proposed a peace plan to the United States. Tensions in the region remain high as military actions and diplomatic discussions unfold.

Washington: The US Central Command (CENTCOM) on Wednesday (local time) rejected Iran's claim that the Strait of Hormuz is closed, saying commercial and energy traffic continues to move through the strategic waterway.

"CLAIM: Earlier today, a general from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed in media reports that 'the Strait of Hormuz is closed' and his country has 'full control over it.' This is FALSE," CENTCOM said in a post on X.

"FACT: Traffic is flowing through the Strait of Hormuz right now carrying commercial goods and energy supplies, including 20 million barrels of crude oil. The United States and regional partners clearly control the strait," it added.

Also Read: Iranian official says 'illegal routes' in Strait of Hormuz to soon be blocked

The rebuke came in response to comments by Mohammadreza Naqdi, an adviser to the commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who reiterated Tehran's position on the strategic waterway in comments to semi-official Fars news agency on Wednesday, Al Jazeera reported.

Live Events

Naqdi also said that transit routes deemed illegal by Iran would soon be closed.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran has "clearly and firmly" set out its conditions for ending the war on all fronts and restoring security to the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.

According to Iranian state broadcaster IRIB, Baghaei said Iran would also deliver its response to proposals from the US side through mediators, Al Jazeera reported.

Baghaei also said that Iran and Oman had reached an understanding on safe passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz and would soon present the agreement to the relevant international body.

"The consultation process between Iran and Oman has been carried out well, and the two sides, in addition to agreeing on the geographical coordinates of safe routes to and from the Strait of Hormuz, have also reached an understanding on how to reflect the issue at the relevant international authority level, which, God willing, will be done soon," Baghaei was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying, as reported by Al Jazeera.

The development comes amid heightened tensions over the Strait of Hormuz during the ongoing conflict between the US and Iran.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said the war with Iran will end "very quickly" and claimed that oil prices will "come tumbling down", while asserting that the US had taken away Iran's nuclear power.

"It is a war from the standpoint of what we have to do. We have to get rid of the nuclear weapons for Iran. We have taken away their nuclear power. If they had nuclear power, you would have had problems like you have never had before," Trump told reporters while departing Washington for a San Antonio Republican campaign rally.

"Their whole country right now is wiped out. It will be over very quickly, and when it does, oil prices will come tumbling down," he added.

Meanwhile, Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani rejected Trump's claims that Iran's oil minister resigned due to pressure from the US war, describing the claim as "a futile effort to hide his own failures", Al Jazeera reported.

Mohajerani said the oil minister's resignation was "not a sign of weakness", but an example of flexibility within a stable political system.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has meanwhile said that while Iran remains determined to defend itself, officials are serious about using diplomacy to secure the country's interests and national security.

Araghchi said Iran's delegation to the United Nations General Assembly in New York used the visit to present a seven-day proposed peace plan to the US to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Al Jazeera reported, citing his Telegram channel.

Trump rejected the Iranian proposal a day after it was presented late last month, while US officials issued a counterproposal seeking to revive negotiations to end the war.

Trump on Tuesday also reiterated his claims about US control over maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, saying the waterway "belongs to the United States Navy and the United States", while describing the US naval presence there as an effective blockade against Iran.

Speaking at Sparrows Point in Maryland, Trump said the US Navy was enforcing what he called "one of the most effective and impenetrable blockades in history".

"Nobody's ever seen a blockade like that, with no ships-zero-getting in," Trump said, adding that oil shipments from outside Iran had recovered to levels "almost higher than they've ever been."

Trump also described how vessels attempting to pass through the waterway were being dealt with.

"Every once in a while, they'll do a run, and they'll either hit the cabin-if it's got oil, they'll hit the cabin, or they'll hit the rudder. If it doesn't have oil, we just sink the ship," he said.

"In other words, the Hormuz Strait belongs to the United States Navy and the United States of America. That's where it belongs, and that's where it is right now," Trump said.

During the same event, Trump said the US would remain the world's leading naval power and claimed that Iran's military had been severely weakened.

"We're doing extremely well in the Islamic Republic of Iran, very well. They have no military. It's shot; the whole place is shot. And they were the evil one. They were the bully of the Middle East. They're not so much the bully anymore, but we have to finish up. And it's only a question of which way do we want to do it, the nice way or the not-so-nice way? And pretty soon you'll find out," Trump said.

Referring to the US actions in the Strait of Hormuz, Trump said he called the maritime measures a "wall of steel" rather than a blockade.

Trump has also said the US Navy was ensuring that Iran would not obtain a nuclear weapon.

He has repeatedly claimed control over the Strait of Hormuz amid the ongoing conflict with Iran, asserting that the US Navy has restricted maritime traffic through the strategic waterway for Iranian vessels and ports.