'Iran does not control the strait': Trump, US military say Hormuz is open, 'traffic is flowing'

US President Donald Trump and the country's military insisted on Sunday that the Strait of Hormuz is open and ships are moving through the passageway despite Iranian claims to have closed it in the latest flare-up of the Middle East war.

"Iran does not control the strait. Traffic is flowing," US CENTCOM said on X.

Trump said on Sunday that ‌the ⁠Strait ⁠of Hormuz ​is open to commercial ​traffic, as Washington and Tehran continued ‌to ​trade ​attacks ⁠that have raised concerns ​over safety on ​the key shipping route.


Also read: US attacks Iran over ship being hit in Hormuz; Tehran responds by hitting Arab states



Trump's ​comments ​were ⁠made during an interview on NBC's Meet ​the Press, as quoted by Reuters.

In a later post, CENTCOM mentioned and challenged a statement made by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps which said that the vital conduit for global oil flow was closing.

But the US military said the strait "remains an international waterway. US forces are positioned and prepared to keep it that way."

Earlier on Sunday, maritime agency Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) said that the southern shipping lane through the Strait of Hormuz remained opendespite Iran declaring the strategic waterway closed, as reported by Bloomberg.

The statements came after Iran's IRGC announced that it would not permit any vessel to pass through the strait until what it described as 'foreign interference' comes to an end. The IRGC accused the US of attempting to create disruptions in the region.

US-Iran war: Why tensions over the Strait of Hormuz have intensified

The latest exchange comes amid a sharp escalation in the conflict between the US and Iran, with both sides stepping up missile and drone attacks across the Gulf.

Iran launched strikes targeting US facilities in several Gulf states, including Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), marking a broader expansion of the conflict. Qatar, which has been mediating ceasefire talks, had not been attacked since April, while the UAE said its air defences intercepted Iranian missiles and drones for the first time since early May.

The renewed violence has further undermined an interim US-Iran agreement signed last month that sought to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and halt the conflict while negotiations continued. In recent days, Trump has said he considers the ceasefire over, although he has left the door open for further talks.

The conflict, which began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, has disrupted security in the Gulf. Iran has sought to tighten its control over the Strait of Hormuz, through which around one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas shipments passed before the war, warning vessels not to transit without its authorisation.

Iran said it had closed the waterway after firing a warning shot that struck a vessel travelling on an unauthorised route and later claimed to have disabled a second vessel.

India said one of its nationals was missing after an attack on the container ship GFS Galaxy off the coast of Oman, while Omani authorities said 23 crew members had been rescued. Qatar also advised all vessels, including leisure boats and fishing boats, to suspend activities.

Iran's newly established Persian Gulf Strait Authority stated that passage through the strait was currently not possible due to what it described as "recent illegal movements" by US military forces, adding that permits would be issued once stability was restored.

The US military rejected those claims, saying its forces remained deployed to safeguard freedom of navigation. US Central Command said it struck 140 Iranian military targets on Saturday and more than 300 over three nights to degrade Iran's ability to attack commercial shipping.

Iran, meanwhile, announced that it had targeted US military assets and facilities in Jordan, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar. Gulf countries also reported intercepting Iranian missiles and drones, while Oman said it had summoned Iran's ambassador to protest drone attacks.

The latest hostilities followed talks in Oman between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi, which Iran said focused on arrangements concerning the Hormuz and were expected to continue with Qatari participation.