Ghalibaf challenges the U.S. claim on Hormuz: “Oil is $35 higher than before the war”

Iran’s parliament speaker and one of Tehran’s chief negotiators, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, has rejected the American narrative that the United States has taken control of the Strait of Hormuz from Iran, citing the price of oil as “proof” that markets do not believe Washington’s version, as Al Jazeera reports in its live coverage of the Iran war.

In a post on X, written in English, Ghalibaf wrote: “The U.S. fraud bureau says Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz, but oil stands well above the pre-war price, trading $35 a barrel more expensive than before the U.S.–Israel war against Iran.” He added: “Either the market is stupid, or the U.S. disinformation machine is fabricating.”

Ghalibaf joked in writing that in Hormuz there was a “free-dollar ATM for believers” of the American version, challenging them to go and collect them. His statement comes in response to the continued claims of President Donald Trump and his administration that the U.S. has “full control” of the strait and that record amounts of oil are passing through it.

Today, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said an average of 15 to 22 million barrels of oil pass through the strait per day, near the pre-war level of about 20 million barrels, while Trump claimed that “record amounts” of oil were transported last night. On the other hand, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said Tehran is awaiting the “decisive” U.S. response through intermediaries and that only a negotiated solution can get the conflict out of the deadlock.

The Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil supplies passed before the war, has remained Tehran’s main negotiating weapon, while the U.S. has imposed an economic blockade of Iranian ports to pressure Iran to stop attacks on ships.