US President Donald Trump has claimed that Washington now has “almost total control” over the Strait of Hormuz and that Iran’s economy is “totally collapsing”, as tensions between the two countries intensify amid an escalating exchange of strikes.
In a post on Truth Social, published hours after the US launched a fresh wave of airstrikes on Iran, Trump rejected an ABC News report suggesting that he was seeking to push Tehran back to the negotiating table. “I’m not trying to force Iran to the bargaining table, as ABC Fake News reported.
Trump said he was not interested in pressuring Iran into reaching an agreement. I couldn’t care less if they sign a worthless, to them, agreement,” the President said, adding that he preferred the current situation, with what he described as “almost total control of the Hormuz Strait” and an Iranian economy that was “totally collapsing. They are just playing out the inevitable.”
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said the US strikes would “tighten the lock” on the strategic waterway. Trump then directly urged the Iranian people to challenge their government, asking, “When are the Iranian people going to rise up and fight? The latest escalation has further deepened the standoff over the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global energy route that Iran has effectively closed to shipping.
