Iran has again rejected Donald Trump’s claims that the US has “total control” over the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority said “the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked” and it will not be opened until Iran’s conditions are accepted.
“The successive claims and tweets by American officials about lifting the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz do not change reality,” it said on X.
Trump earlier said that “praise be to Allah”, Washington has “total control over the Strait of Hormuz", adding: "I THINK WE WILL KEEP IT!”
Amid their conflicting claims, data from trade intelligence firm Kpler showed shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz was near a three-month low.
Just 13 vessels transited the waterway on Tuesday, around 90 per cent below the daily average of 130 before the US and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February.
Tehran has effectively closed the strait under threat of military action since the US and Israel attacked in February. Iran and Oman have recently been discussing a mechanism to reopen it under their management in a move that would hand even more leverage to Iran, with US talks to end the war still on ice.
Trump defends secret flight swap after using Air Force One as decoy: ‘The plane I flew on was at greater risk’
President Donald Trump has defended a ruse that saw him stow away in an airport catering container to slip into another plane while Air Force One, filled with staff, and reporters, essentially worked as an unwitting decoy.
Trump was sent into the sky out of Turkey in the second plane after a recent summit in Turkey because the Secret Service and military wanted him on a “different plane” due to a threat from Iran.
”I think actually the plane that I flew on was at greater risk,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday. “I think it was at greater risk because that would be the plane I think that they would be more likely to go for.”
Trump’s Iran approval plunges 24 points among voters
A cable TV polling expert claims that numbers from two surveys conducted two years apart show just how deeply President Donald Trump has disappointed America's voters when it comes to Iran.
CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten said Tuesday that a July 2024 poll of people who were extremely motivated to vote in that year’s presidential election found that 53 percent were confident Trump would be able to handle the situation in Iran, according to a video clip posted online.
But a July poll of people extremely motivated to vote in November's midterm elections shows that just 29 percent now approve of how Trump is actually handling Iran, Enten said.
US strikes targeting Houthis killed 153 civilians in Yemen last year, Pentagon review says
More than 150 civilians were killed in US airstrikes targeting Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen last year, according to a Pentagon review of the attacks, which comes as concerns rise over civilian casualties during military campaigns under the Trump administration.
The unclassified assessment was sent to Congress as part of an annual report on civilian casualties, according to NBC and AP reports.
A Pentagon official, who was not authorised to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the department will submit the report in the coming months but had nothing more to announce.
Most casualties occurred in three major strikes in April 2025, including one that targeted hostile forces in or near Yemen's rebel-held capital city of Sanaa as well as the Ras Isa port, the report said.
As many as 80 people and 171 others were injured. It sent massive fireballs billowing skyward and turned tanker trucks into burning wrecks.
Iran knew key details of Trump’s hotel in Turkey, leading to plane switcheroo - report
U.S. intelligence officials reportedly identified threats from Iranian surface-to-air missiles and a potential shoulder-fired missile before President Donald Trump secretly swapped planes after leaving last month’s NATO summit in Turkey.
Iranians also knew specifically where the president was staying during the Ankara trip, down to the floor of the building, according to officials who spoke to The New York Times.
Read the full report:
Iran slams France for 'lecturing the world about human rights'
The Iranian foreign minister has criticised France and other Western nations for what it said was “hypocrisy” over comments condemning Tehran’s handling of internal dissent in the country while not taking meaningful action on Israel’s abuses in the Middle East.
“Countries like France should stop lecturing the world about ‘human rights’ and international law. The hypocrisy is blatant and embarrassing,” Abbas Aragchi wrote on X.
“Your backing of Israel’s genocide in Gaza – and aggression against Iran – has destroyed whatever moral high ground you imagined you had.”
France on Wednesday confirmed that the EU and 20 other nations have released a joint statement condemning Iran’s killings of protesters.
The countries demanded Tehran take meaningful steps towards ensuring respect for human rights, end the use of the death penalty and release those arbitrarily detained.
Rubio and Bessent stayed on decoy flight from Turkey as Trump switched planes, official says
The two most senior members of president Donald Trump's Cabinet, secretary of state Marco Rubio and treasury secretary Scott Bessent, flew out of last month's Nato summit in Turkey on what was effectively a decoy plane following an Iranian threat, while Trump was secretly moved to a smaller military jet, a senior US official said Wednesday.
The official, who was briefed on the situation and spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details of presidential travel, said Rubio was aware of the switch and details of the threat behind it but could or would not say why he had stayed on the plane.
The official said Bessent was likely aware but did not know for sure.
The official, however, noted that security precautions for the president – especially one who has been the target of several assassination attempts – are more robust than those for even top members of the Cabinet.
Trump had flown to the annual gathering of Nato country leaders in Ankara, Turkey, in a new Qatari-gifted and retrofitted red, white and navy blue jet.
But ahead of departing Turkey, he said he would fly partway home on an older-model baby blue Air Force One plane instead.
The New York Times and CBS News had reported last month that intelligence officials had raised concerns about a potential attack on the president or his jet, triggering additional precautions and the decision not to use the newly inaugurated aircraft gifted to Trump by Qatar for the first leg of Trump's trip home from Ankara.
Comment: Trump’s ‘Catering Truck One’ escape was truly brave – if he’d got stuck, he’d have had to eat his way out
Not since Boris Johnson hid in an industrial refrigerator have we witnessed such James Bond-like agility from a world leader, says Sean O’Grady:
Iran disputes Trump claims of ‘total control’ of Strait of Hormuz
Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority said the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked and it will not be opened until Iran’s conditions are accepted despite repeated claims by the US that the waterway has reopened.
“The successive claims and tweets by American officials about lifting the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz do not change reality; the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked and will not be reopened until Iran’s conditions are accepted.” it posted on X.
Catch up: Trump defends secret Air Force One plane swap amid growing backlash
President Donald Trump has defended a ruse that saw him stow away in an airport catering container to slip into another plane while Air Force One, filled with staff, and reporters, essentially worked as an unwitting decoy.
Trump was sent into the sky out of Turkey in the second plane after a recent summit in Turkey because the Secret Service and military wanted him on a “different plane” due to a threat from Iran.
”I think actually the plane that I flew on was at greater risk,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday. “I think it was at greater risk because that would be the plane I think that they would be more likely to go for.”
Recap: Oil stockpiles ‘rapidly depleting’ despite Trump claiming ‘total control’ of Strait of Hormuz
A global energy watchdog has warned in a new report that oil stockpiles are “rapidly depleting”, as it urged for a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“Although the market is projected to return to surplus towards the end of this year, risks remain substantial and the urgency of reopening the Strait has increased, as previously available inventory buffers are rapidly depleting,” the International Energy Agency wrote in a new report.
The agency said that supply is expected to fall by 4.3 mb/d (million barrels per day) in 2026 due to losses in the Middle East and Russia. It comes despite Donald Trump’s unfounded claim that US forces “totally control the Strait of Hormuz”.
“Nobody else, only us [controls it],” he said. “At some point, maybe they'll do something and then they get blown away.”