Trump: “The US Has Complete Control of the Strait of Hormuz”; Claims Iran Is “Bankrupt”

Trump posted on Truth Social: “The United States has complete control of the Strait of Hormuz. I think we will keep this control!” In particular, the phrase “we will keep this control” is emphasized in all capital letters.

Trump diagnosed Iran as “now dead,” calling the US naval blockade “an iron wall” for everyone. He stressed that Iran “can do nothing” about it. According to Trump, Iran now has no money and no weapons, and no navy or air force at all. The remaining soldiers are not being paid, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has been massacred and is fleeing, and its leadership is in an “uncertain state,” he added.

The person negotiating and the person speaking publicly are moving separately, causing confusion. Although Trump negotiated with a specific official, contradictory claims have come from another side, and he has faced this situation. Because of this lack of internal communication, Trump is taking the stance of waiting until Iran sorts things out on its own.

Data from Kpler showed that as of Tuesday, only eight ships were tracked in the strait. This is the lowest daily figure since August 5. According to the report, seven of the ships used the Iranian route, and only one coal carrier exited the strait.

Because of this, statistics firms like Kpler that track ships using location trackers have difficulty obtaining accurate data. Since many ships travel with trackers off, no one can know exactly how many vessels have passed. However, the US government may have access to this information.

Trump's assertion of US control is seen as a direct challenge to Tehran's claim that Iran will decide when the waterway fully reopens. Mohsen Rezaei, the newly appointed secretary-general of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, told the Iranian state news agency Tasnim yesterday that “the strait will remain closed unless the US changes its stance and accepts Iran's conditions for ending the war.” Iran's demands include an end to the war, the release of frozen Iranian assets, and an end to fighting elsewhere in the region, including Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.

Washington, on the other hand, demands Iran's complete surrender and maintains that it will accept no conditions until Iran raises the white flag 100%.

The US first announced a naval blockade in April targeting ships entering and leaving Iranian ports. After the peace agreement collapsed in June, it resumed the blockade in July. This week, the US fired on a 50,000-ton Panama-flagged cargo ship, reportedly because its crew attempted to break through the blockade line and ignored warnings.

Whether to believe Trump or the claims of Iran's Tasnim news agency is up to readers, but the key point is to recognize clearly that Iran is currently in a completely broken state.

They argue that Iran can still do something, and some even claim that Iran still has 70% of its missiles remaining. However, such claims have never been confirmed, and if Iran had that much firepower, it would still be firing missiles continuously. Yet Iran's missile launches have sharply declined, and the party now firing missiles is not Iran but the Houthi rebels.