WASHINGTON — President Trump claimed Wednesday that the US has complete control of the Strait of Hormuz, one day after Energy Secretary Chris Wright confirmed increasing oil exports from the crucial waterway as Iran’s economy continues to free fall.
“The U.S.A. has total control over the Strait of Hormuz. I THINK WE WILL KEEP IT!” Trump proclaimed on Truth Social.
“Our Naval Blockade is being called, by everyone, ‘A WALL OF STEEL,’ and there is nothing Iran can do about it,” he added.
The US renewed its blockade on Iranian ports last month, with the president opting to hit Tehran with economic pressure to force the Islamic Republic to sue for peace.
Meanwhile, Wright announced on X Tuesday that the seven-day average of oil leaving the strait was up to almost nine million barrels per day.
“When combined with the additional 5-7 million barrels per day leaving the region via newly upgraded pipelines and export facilities, total oil flows are currently averaging approximately 15 million barrels per day,” he added. “On Sunday alone, over 20 million barrels left the Arabian gulf region, which is above the pre-conflict average.”
Only 84 vessels were recorded going through the strait last week, according to maritime data firm Kpler. However, a source familiar with the situation told The Post that many firms undercount the number of ships leaving the Strait of Hormuz due to the necessity of maintaining secrecy.
Under the previous US Navy blockade which lasted from April 13 through June 18, only about 2.1 million barrels of oil were escaping the strait every day under the threat of Iranian military action.
“In coordination with the US military, the US Department of Energy maintains the best available data related to oil and oil products leaving the Arabian gulf,” a spokesperson told The Post Wednesday.
In his message Wednesday, Trump said of Iran: “They have no Navy, they have no Air Force, their remaining soldiers are unpaid, the IRGC is decimated and fleeing, and their ‘Leadership’ is uncertain, at best!
“They have No Money – Their country is ‘shot.’ All they have is FAKE NEWS and 300% INFLATION, and getting worse!” he concluded. “Iran is all talk and no action, the Bully of the Middle East No Longer. Praise be to Allah!”
Analysts have noted that the US blockade is choking out Iran’s economy, with the Islamic Republic left with fewer options than when the initial embargo was implemented.
“Hormuz is a shrinking asset for Iran’s regime,” Mark Dubowitz, the CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank, wrote on X Tuesday.
“They played this card at their weakest—not when Khamenei intended: after securing nukes and ICBMs, backed by vast arsenals of ballistic missiles and drones and powerful terror armies,” he added.
Iran has insisted that it will maintain control of the Strait of Hormuz and warned the US to end its blockade or face retaliatory attacks in the region.
