Iran Rejects US Claims That Strait of Hormuz Is Open
By The Media Line Staff
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy denied US statements that the Strait of Hormuz has reopened, saying restrictions on the strategic waterway will remain in place until American military operations against Iran end and unspecified commitments are implemented.
The IRGC Navy said US statements describing the strait as open were intended to influence oil prices and obscure what it characterized as American failures.
The Iranian account conflicts with statements from President Donald Trump and US military officials, who say Washington has weakened Tehran’s ability to control shipping through the waterway after months of attacks and threats involving naval mines.
“That sucker is open. The Iranian response is very mild. They don’t want us to go back at them. That’s the whole ball game. The rest doesn’t matter,” President Trump told Axios Thursday.
US Central Command commander Adm. Brad Cooper also said Thursday that US operations had cleared recognized shipping routes of Iranian mines.
“Internationally recognized sea routes in the strait are free of Iranian sea mines,” Cooper said. “Bottom line: Today international shipping lanes are open and momentum is building.”
Preliminary shipping figures released Friday, however, showed traffic remained limited. Seven commodity vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, compared with 17 the previous day and a 10-day average of 15.
Overall traffic also remains substantially below the levels recorded before the war began in late February
Brent crude was trading at approximately $72 a barrel at the start of the conflict, when shipping through the strait was still proceeding without major interruption. Iranian attacks on tankers and threats against vessels later brought commercial traffic to a halt, while Brent climbed as high as $126.
US officials told Axios that military operations have since substantially reduced Iran’s control of the waterway and reopened internationally recognized shipping lanes.
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