Trump claims “virtually complete” U.S. control of the Strait of Hormuz: Iran “virtually destroyed,” war to be won “very quickly”

U.S. President Donald Trump declared on Wednesday that the United States has “virtually complete control” over the Strait of Hormuz and that Iran is “virtually destroyed,” predicting that the seven-month war will be won “very quickly,” as IANS reports.

Speaking at a White House event for National Hispanic Heritage Month, Trump said the U.S. has lost 18 soldiers in six months of conflict, while Iran has lost 4,500. “Iran has been virtually destroyed. Their economy is not good. They have inflation over 300 percent,” he declared, adding that Iran’s navy, air force and air defense systems “are gone.”

On the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s vital energy route, the U.S. president said: “In the last week in the Strait of Hormuz, which we have almost complete control of — I would say complete, but every once in a while they throw a mine and mess it up a little — we have virtually complete control over the Strait of Hormuz.” He also claimed that more oil has come out of the strait in the last three days than ever in history, without giving supporting figures.

The picture at sea looks different from the statements. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) announced on Wednesday that three ships — an oil tanker, an LNG tanker and a third vessel — had been hit by unknown projectiles a day earlier in the strait. Before the war, around a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passed through this strategic route.

The U.S.–Iran war began in February of this year. Washington has responded to Iran’s blockade of commercial shipping with a counter-blockade of Iranian ports, while talks to end the conflict and reopen the strait have stalled. “You are going to see things happen very quickly,” Trump warned without giving details.