Washington, July 12, (dpa/GNA) – US President Donald Trump, on Sunday claimed that the Strait of Hormuz was “open,” contradicting statements made by Iran which has said it had closed the strategic waterway again, after hostilities with the US flared up again this week.
“It’s open, we bombed the hell out of them last night,” Trump said on NBC’s Meet the Press. The US Central Command (CENTCOM), which is responsible for the region, also contradicted Tehran’s claim that the strait was closed. “Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz. It remains an international waterway. US forces are positioned and prepared to keep it that way,” the command wrote on X.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had said overnight that the Strait of Hormuz, would remain closed “until further notice” and until the end of US military “interference” in the region, following renewed US strikes against Iran in retaliation for an attack on a Cyprus-flagged container ship in the strait.
The IRGC said it had fired warning shots at the vessel and stopped it because, it was travelling on an unauthorized route. According to CENTCOM, a fire broke out on board, leaving the 300-metre-long ship unable to continue its voyage, because of extensive damage to its engine room.
The US responded by striking around 140 Iranian military targets overnight, in what was the third wave of attacks within a week.
Iran retaliated by launching missiles and drones on US-linked targets in Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
Repeated exchanges of fire between Iran and the US over the past week have undermined an interim agreement reached last month to end the conflict, and reopen the waterway.
US President Donald Trump, declared this week the ceasefire was “over” but said Washington remained open to talks with Tehran.
GNA