Iran refutes Trump’s claim to ‘control’ Hormuz: What’s the latest in talks?

Published 12 August 2026 · world

Iran declares Hormuz closure until US meets its demands and changes its ‘behaviour’ as global energy prices tick higher. Iran has refuted President Donald Trump’s

Iran declares Hormuz closure until US meets its demands and changes its ‘behaviour’ as global energy prices tick higher. Iran has refuted President Donald Trump’s claim that Washington has “total control” of the Strait of Hormuz, saying the critical waterway will remain closed until the United States accepts its demands and changes its “behaviour”. According to the semi-official Tasnim news agency, Mohsen Rezaie, the newly appointed head of Iran’s Supreme Security Council, told China’s ambassador to Tehran, Cong Peiwu: “As long as America does not change its behaviour and does not accept Iran’s conditions, the Strait of Hormuz will not be opened.” The Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of global oil and natural gas is shipped during peacetime, has emerged as a key flashpoint in the US-Israel war on Iran, with peace talks stalled until the question of its management is resolved. Iran closed the strait shortly after US-Israeli bombing of Iran began at the end of February. It currently says it is only talking to Oman, whose territorial waters the strait also passes through, about the future management of the waterway. Commercial shipping remains severely disrupted in the strait, with attacks on vessels continuing on Tuesday when US forces targeted a vessel they said was headed for an Iranian port, in the Gulf of Oman. At the same time, six people were killed in a Houthi attack on a Saudi cargo vessel in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, according to Yemeni authorities, in what is being described as the first deaths from Houthi attacks on shipping since the US-Israel war on Iran began. So, is the war entering another dangerous phase? And is there still a diplomatic route out? What has Trump said about the Strait of Hormuz? “We totally control the Strait of Hormuz. We have control over it; nobody else, only us,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews on Tuesday.

On the ground, however, the situation is more complicated. United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said shipping remained at reduced levels and attacks and “harassment activity” persisted in the Strait of Hormuz as Iran and the US both maintain blockades in and around it. Iran, meanwhile, has made clear that it does not intend to reopen the waterway unless Washington meets its demands for the lifting of sanctions, the release of frozen Iranian assets and compensation for attacks, among other things. Writing on X, Rezaei also demanded an end to the US’s naval blockade on Iranian ports as well as a region-wide ceasefire, including in Gaza and Lebanon. What has happened in Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb? A US Navy MH-60 helicopter fired two Hellfire missiles at a Panama-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman after the vessel allegedly attempted to violate the US blockade of Iranian ports, US Central Command (CENTCOM) reported. The strike disabled the ship’s steering gear. The M/V Vela Nova had ignored warnings before a helicopter fired missiles into its engine room, disabling it, CENTCOM said. The US military did not report any casualties among the crew. The war has now also spilt into another key maritime passageway in the region, the Bab al-Mandeb at the entrance to the Red Sea off Yemen and Saudi Arabia’s western coast, where the Iran-backed Houthis have been targeting Saudi shipping amid renewed fighting in Yemen. Saudi Arabia has announced a new maritime alliance in a bid to secure the waterway. On Tuesday, six people were killed in a Houthi attack on a cargo vessel in the strait, Yemeni authorities claimed. Four crew members on board the Egyptian-owned Tihamah were killed, along with two Yemeni rescuers who were responding to the attack. Ten others were injured. The Houthis have yet to directly comment on the attack. Later in the day, Houthi-affiliated media reported that the ship was carrying Saudi military equipment.