Ships pass through the Strait of Hormuz near Bandar Abbas in southern Iran on Monday. [AFP]
Ships pass through the Strait of Hormuz near Bandar Abbas in southern Iran on Monday. [AFP]

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has dismissed Donald Trump's claim that the United States has full control of the Strait of Hormuz, calling it "disinformation."

Araghchi said Thursday on social media platform X that the US "has long been miscalculating due to intelligence failures, and the war against Iran is a prime example." He then warned, apparently targeting Trump's remarks, that "worse than fake news is fake intelligence — beware," and said Washington is now "making an even bigger miscalculation in the Strait of Hormuz."

Hossein Taeb, commander of Iran's Basij paramilitary force, also said the strait remains under Iranian control and management.

According to the semi-official Fars News Agency, Taeb said the US had tried "to provoke another war in the Strait of Hormuz to diminish Iran's standing in the region." He added that Washington "has once again failed to avoid defeat, despite claiming Iran has no air force or naval forces."

"Today you are witnessing that the Strait of Hormuz is under the management and control of the Islamic Republic," he said. "Iran is moving forward on our path with complete security readiness."

Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday that "the United States has total and complete control of the Strait of Hormuz" and that he expected the US to maintain it. He went on to claim that Iran "has no Navy, no Air Force," that its remaining soldiers "are not being paid," and that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps "has been decimated and is on the run." He added that Iran's leadership is "in a state of uncertainty, to put it mildly."

Trump also wrote that Iran "has no money" and that "the country is broken," saying all that remains is "fake news and 300% inflation — and things are getting worse."


ikson@heraldcorp.com