United States President Donald Trump has reaffirmed his stance that the U.S. maintains “total control” over the Strait of Hormuz, even as shipping traffic through the critical waterway dropped to a one-week low. The President’s comments, shared on Truth Social this Wednesday, echoed remarks he made to reporters a day earlier, underscoring the ongoing impasse in diplomatic negotiations intended to resolve the conflict and restore full maritime access.
“The U.S.A. has total control over the Strait of Hormuz. I THINK WE WILL KEEP IT!” Trump declared. He further described the American blockade of Iranian ports as “A WALL OF STEEL,” asserting that Iran is powerless to counter it. Dismissing Iran as the “Bully of the Middle East No Longer,” the President concluded his statement with the phrase, “Praise be to Allah!”
Despite the administration’s rhetoric, Iran continues to exert influence over the region, recently engaging in separate management discussions with Oman. These talks have effectively sidelined Washington, as broader peace negotiations between the U.S. and Iran have stalled since the collapse of a June Memorandum of Understanding. Tehran maintains that it will not permit full transit through the strait until the U.S. naval blockade is lifted, sanctions are removed, and Iranian assets are unfrozen.
The impact of the conflict is evident in the sharp decline of maritime activity. According to data from the analytics platform Kpler, only eight vessels transited the strait on Tuesday. This figure represents a significant drop from the pre-war average of 130 to 140 ships and is lower than the previous ten-day average of approximately 12 vessels per day.
The war, initiated by the U.S. and Israel on February 28, has seen a recent uptick in sporadic hostilities. On Tuesday, a U.S. Navy helicopter struck a Panama-flagged cargo vessel. Simultaneously, the Yemen-based Houthis have expanded the conflict to the Bab al-Mandab Strait, where an attack on an Egyptian-owned ship resulted in six deaths—the first fatalities recorded from such strikes in that area.
Efforts to mediate the crisis are ongoing, with Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Tahir Andrabi, stating on Wednesday that Islamabad is working to bring both sides to the negotiating table. Pakistani officials, including the deputy prime minister and deputy foreign minister, held discussions with counterparts from Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait on August 10, while Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi is currently visiting Tehran.
Within the U.S., the administration faces political pressure to find an off-ramp for the conflict ahead of the November midterm elections. Some analysts suggest that Trump’s recent assertions are intended to frame the war as a success, despite failing to achieve stated objectives such as dismantling Iran’s nuclear program or forcing regime change.
Dennis Citrinowicz, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies, criticized the administration’s narrative in a post on X. “Unfortunately, the determination to demonstrate that the United States is ‘winning’ at all costs is creating a virtual reality that prevents both the administration and the president from making decisions based on the actual situation on the ground,” he wrote, adding that Iran still possesses the capability to disrupt maritime traffic.
Disputes have also emerged regarding official energy data. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright claimed on Tuesday that the seven-day average for oil exiting the strait was nearly 9 million barrels per day, suggesting that land-based infrastructure upgrades had nearly offset the maritime losses. However, Brett Erickson of Obsidian Risk Advisors challenged this, stating on X that there is “zero evidence” to support the 9 million barrel figure, calling it definitively inaccurate.
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.
Wright said that, when combined with upgraded land delivery infrastructure, fossil fuel deliveries from the region were close to pre-war levels.
Not ‘maybe’, not ‘potentially’,” he added.
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.
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.
