Symbolic imageTrump claims total control of Hormuz as Iran denies truce talks
Trump said on Wednesday the United States has "total control" of the closed Strait of Hormuz. Tehran denied the same day that talks on extending the ceasefire are under way.
On Truth Social, the US president called the naval blockade a "WALL OF STEEL" and wrote that Iran has no navy or air force, unpaid soldiers and a "decimated" Revolutionary Guard. Ship counts undercut the claim: Kpler recorded 14 Hormuz crossings on Tuesday, while Reuters counted eight, the lowest figure since 5 August. The truce rests on a memorandum signed in June, in a war that began on 28 February; TASS reports that Washington resumed strikes on 8 July, accusing Tehran of breaching its Hormuz terms.
Islamabad claims a deal
Turkey's Anadolu agency, citing Pakistani sources, reported on Wednesday that both sides had agreed to extend the 60-day truce; Pakistani officials had spoken a day earlier of "some sort of arrangement". Qatar, Iran and Oman call the talks bilateral between Muscat and Tehran, with no independent confirmation of US involvement.
Iran on an offensive footing
Bloomberg reports that Iran's military is pivoting to "offensive" mode for a next round of the war with talks frozen, and that Iranian factions are squabbling over war aims with Khamenei absent.
Other opinions
TASS, citing The Atlantic, describes Trump's course as wait-and-see, while the Jerusalem Post reports Israeli officials calling the blockade "highly effective".