Iran Says It Controls the Strait of Hormuz: ‘The U.S. Is Acting Like Thieves and Smugglers’

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf says Iran’s armed forces have “full control” of the Strait of Hormuz and are confronting U.S. efforts to move ships through it.

In a video address shared on social media, Ghalibaf accused the United States of trying to pass several vessels through the strait “like thieves and smugglers.” He said the ships had met resistance from Iranian forces.

“

The full control of the Strait of Hormuz is in the hands of our armed forces.

Ghalibaf attributed recent U.S. attacks on Iran to Tehran’s use of its power in the waterway and claimed Iran had responded heavily. He also questioned why Washington would need to repeat its claims of control and attack Iranian islands if it already controlled the strait.

“

The U.S. is trying to move several ships through the strait like thieves and smugglers, but it is facing intervention by our armed forces.

He said the United States had given ships assurances that they could pass through Hormuz, but then tried to use the southern route contrary to an agreement. “We will not allow this,” he said. Before the war, at least 120 ships a day passed through the strait, he said, adding that the passage of one or two ships could not be compared with the prewar period.

Ghalibaf argued that Iran’s administration of the strait did not violate international law. He claimed Iran had made 10 years of military progress in the past 15 months and said attacks on U.S. bases in other countries after the ceasefire carried strategic meaning. He also said Iran had demonstrated that its missile capacity could not be blocked by its enemies.

“

The U.S. is trying to use the southern route of the strait contrary to the agreement. We will not allow this.

Repeating that a naval blockade amounted to “military war,” Ghalibaf accused Iran’s opponents of seeking to launch protests inside Iran alongside terrorism and short military attacks as part of a hybrid war. He called for political unity and said Iran would make its position accepted without ever surrendering militarily or politically.

“

Social cohesion is the most important social good that we must recommend to one another. I ask all politicians from every segment to put disagreements aside.