Iran retains initiative in Strait of Hormuz despite US claims: Armed Forces spokesman

Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi said on Saturday that the recent claims by the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) commander regarding the escort of one billion barrels of oil out of the Strait of Hormuz over the past two months were “false” and “ridiculous.”

He added that the CENTCOM commander’s claims were more a failed psychological operation than a reflection of reality.

Such remarks were aimed at boosting the morale of the “exhausted and worn-out” personnel of the “terrorist” US military in the region and justifying Washington’s heavy financial and human costs there, the senior commander emphasized.

Shekarchi said such claims would fail to change the reality of the expulsion of the “aggressor” US military from the region.

“The initiative in the Strait of Hormuz remains in the hands of Iran’s powerful armed forces,” he pointed out.

In a statement shared on X, CENTCOM commander Admiral Brad Cooper said US forces have facilitated the transport of over one billion barrels of oil through the waterway in the last two months alone, providing protection for more than 2,000 commercial vessels.

He added that the strait’s primary transit lanes had been cleared of mines, allowing thousands of ships to pass through the waterway.

Iran restricted transit through the Strait of Hormuz in response to the illegal US-Israeli aggression that began on February 28.

On June 17, Tehran and Washington signed the Pakistan-brokered Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), whose Article 5 places responsibility for reopening and managing the Strait squarely in Iran’s hands.

However, Washington attempted to undermine Iran’s sovereignty over the vital global energy chokepoint by establishing an unsafe corridor near the Omani shores.

The United States also resumed its airstrikes on Iran and imposed a naval blockade in violation of the war-ending deal.

The unlawful US measures prompted Iran to declare the Strait of Hormuz closed to all traffic.

Now, shipping traffic through the Strait has reached its lowest level in months, sending oil prices to their highest.

The Islamic Republic says the reopening of the critical waterway depends on US compliance with its obligations under the MoU.