Iran declares Strait of Hormuz under its management amid ongoing tensions

Iran claims control of the Strait of Hormuz and rejects US President Donald Trump's assertion of total American dominance over the strategic waterway amid ongoing Iran tensions. Hossein Taeb, head of Iran's Basij paramilitary unit, stated the Strait of Hormuz is under Iran's control and management, according to state-affiliated Fars News Agency. [1] The Iranian statement came one day after Trump posted on Truth Social that the US had total control of the waterway. [1]

Iran Rejects Trump's Claim of US Control

Hossein Taeb, head of Iran's Basij paramilitary unit, stated the Strait of Hormuz is under Iran's control and management, according to state-affiliated Fars News Agency. [1] The remarks came a day after US President Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that the US had "total control" of the strategic waterway. [1] President Donald Trump claims the US has "total control" over the Strait of Hormuz, while Iranian officials claim it remains closed until Washington meets Tehran's conditions. [4] Pakistan says it is trying to bring Washington and Tehran "to the negotiating table". [4]

Strategic Importance of the Closed Strait

Before the US-Israeli attacks earlier this year resulted in the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, for 2025, this chokepoint had an average of over 20 million barrels of crude oil passing through on a daily basis. [2] The world's largest and second largest crude importing nations — China and India — accounted for 44% of Gulf oil exports. [2] China and India also import large quantities of the liquified natural gas (LNG) and fertilizers from the Gulf. [2] In terms of percentage share, 95% of Japanese and 70% of South Korean oil was being sourced through Strait of Hormuz. [2] Closure of Strait of Hormuz has shrunk daily shipping from its peak at 130-140 vessels a day to single digits. [2]

Diplomatic Efforts and Failed Talks

The only silver lining in the US-Iran tensions was the initial April two-week ceasefire that was brokered by Pakistan. [2] This was blessed by Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, “after a last-minute nudge by China.” [2] But the first ever direct US-Iran talks since 1979, between J.D. Vance and Mohammad Ghalibaf and held in Islamabad, had failed to produce any agreement. [2] Various Trump-initiated efforts since have failed to break either of the deadlocks, on Washington's demand for a full halt to Iran's enrichment or on reopening of Strait of Hormuz. [2] Pakistan has reportedly asked the United States for a $10 billion currency-swap facility from the US Treasury’s Exchange Stabilisation Fund. [5] The request arrived at an extraordinary moment: the United States is at war with Iran, Pakistan has become an important channel for diplomacy between Washington and Tehran, and Islamabad is again trying to turn geopolitical relevance into economic relief. [5]

Divergent Interests Among Iran's Asian Partners

China’s frustration is real but managed. Beijing stands assured by its 140 days of strategic petroleum reserves and added purchases of Russian crude. [2] Its EV adoption — 54% of new car sales in the first half of 2026 — is already displacing about 1.35 million barrels a day of oil demand. [2] Moscow has already banked an estimated $1.3 to $1.9 billion windfall in oil exports as Hormuz-starved Asian buyers turned to Russian crude. [2] A recent Chatham House study called the Iran war “an economic gift for Putin” at a moment when Western sanctions were squeezing his economy to surrender. [2] India consumes roughly 5.6 million barrels of crude a day and 70% of its crude imports are now from outside Hormuz. [2] But it also imports 60% of its LNG from abroad of which 90% comes through Hormuz. [2] Making history, India’s crude imports from Russia for the month of June 2026 passed 50% of its total crude imports for that month. [2]

Prospects for Momentum at Multilateral Summits

For a fortnight beginning August 30, Tehran gets to feel wanted – first in Bishkek, at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, then in New Delhi at the BRICS summit. [2] Iran’s leadership will sit among presidents and prime ministers who need something from Tehran just as much as Tehran needs something from them: a reopened Strait of Hormuz. [2] Apart from rising costs and uncertainties, fast-depleting strategic petroleum reserves of all these nations have caused enormous anxieties. [2] In July 1971, a Pakistani military aircraft carried Henry Kissinger out of Islamabad on a secret mission to Beijing — a trip made possible because Pakistan had a working relationship with both Beijing and Washington. [2] That single, discreet act of triangulation reshaped the Cold War order. [2] It is worth remembering it as Pakistan recently enacted a similar model by bringing Vance and Ghalibaf together. [2] What Bishkek and Delhi summits can do is supply back-to-back sequencing and cover: venues where China and India can urge restraint without appearing to capitulate to either side. [2]

What to watch next: Nations including Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the UAE — which have also been involved in back channel efforts in bringing the US and Iran to the negotiating table — will also be part of these deliberations and can complicate or catalyse the US-Iran talks. [2]