As Strait of Hormuz transit drops, Trump again says US has ‘control’ 

United States President Donald Trump has doubled down on claims the United States maintains “total control” over the Strait of Hormuz, even as transit through the arterial waterway fell to a one-week low amid the US-Israel war with Iran.

Trump made the statement in a Truth Social post on Wednesday, reiterating a similar claim he made to reporters the day before as diplomatic efforts to end the conflict and fully re-open the strait have continued to stall.

“The U.S.A. has total control over the Strait of Hormuz. I THINK WE WILL KEEP IT!” Trump said.

He went on to claim the ongoing US blockade of Iranian ports “is being called, by everyone, “A WALL OF STEEL,” and there is nothing Iran can do about it”.

“Iran is all talk and no action, the Bully of the Middle East No Longer,” Trump said, ending his message with, “Praise be to Allah!”

Despite the statement, Iran has continued to assert its influence over the strait as it has pursued talks with Oman on future management. Wider peace talks with the US have been largely paused amid the Iran-Oman talks, which do not include Washington.

Iran has said it will not allow full traffic in the strait until the US naval blockade is lifted, sanctions are lifted, and its assets are unfrozen.

While ships can still transit through the strait, they face several obstacles and heightened threats. That has caused the volume of traffic to drop dramatically.

Reuters news agency reported that just eight ships transited through the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, far below the 130 to 140 ships pre-war rate.

The US and Israel launched the war with Iran on February 28. The US and Iran signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at ending the conflict in June, but the agreement dissolved in mid July with both sides renewing attacks.

Fighting between the US and Israel has been mostly in recent days, with sporadic incidents. That included a US Navy military helicopter striking a Panama-flagged cargo vessel on Tuesday.

The Yemen-based Houthis have also opened a new front in the war, with attacks on vessels in the Bab al-Mandab Strait. Six people were killed in a Houthi attack on an Egyptian-owned ship on Tuesday, in the first deaths from such an attack.