US military rejects Iranian claims of controlling Strait of Hormuz

The US military on Monday rejected an Iranian commander’s claim that Tehran maintains operational control over maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf.

“Iran has no navy because American forces sank it,” US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on US social media company X.

The command maintained that Tehran exercises no authority over the vital chokepoint, saying thousands of commercial vessels had passed through and more than 1 billion barrels of crude had transited in recent months.

The statement came after Iranian state media cited Army Chief of Staff and Deputy Coordinator Rear Adm. Habibollah Sayyari as saying that naval forces under the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps exercise full control over the waterway and the Gulf.

Sayyari asserted that the army’s naval forces oversee the eastern approach into the Indian Ocean, warning that the forces would not permit maritime transit.

Both nations have traded accusations over blockades in the vital corridor amid the seven-month Iran war that began with large-scale strikes by the US and Israel in late February.