The Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) pushed back against President Donald Trump‘s claims that the U.S. was in control of the Strait of Hormuz, saying that the waterway remains closed.
‘USA Has Total Control’
In a post on Truth Social cited by the White House Rapid Response handle on X on Wednesday, Trump said that the U.S. will keep control over the Strait of Hormuz and that its naval blockade was being called the “wall of steel.” Trump said that Iran had “no navy” and “no Air force” while their troops remain unpaid.
“All they have is fake news and 300% inflation,” Trump said, adding that the country was “all talk and no action” and that it no longer remained the “bully of the Middle East.”
PGSA Refutes Trump’s Claims
The PGSA took to the social media platform X, pushing back against Trump’s claims. The post said that “claims and repeated posts by U.S. officials that the Strait of Hormuz is no longer blocked do not change the reality,” adding that the waterway “remains blocked” and that it “will not be reopened until Iran’s conditions are accepted.”
The agency, which was established in May this year, is tasked with authorizing and regulating the flow of maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, including collecting tolls. According to a report by The Guardian in June, over 300 vessels, mostly bound for Asian countries, had applied for permits with the authority.
Notably, the agency is under U.S. Treasury Sanctions since the end of May this year. “The Persian Gulf Strait Authority is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, the IRGC,” the Treasury said.
The Executive Order 13224 signed by former President George Bush in 2001 “gives the U.S. Government a powerful tool to impede terrorist funding,” according to the U.S. Department of State.
The PGSA’s comments echo the demands made by Iran’s newly appointed Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Razaei, who reaffirmed that the Strait of Hormuz would only open once the U.S. has met Tehran’s conditions, including access to frozen Iranian assets, a region-wide ceasefire and more.
Chris Wright on Strait of Hormuz, Chuck Schumer Demands Senate Briefing
Energy Secretary Chris Wright touted an increase in the average daily oil flow through the Strait of Hormuz over the past week. Wright, in a post on X, said that newly upgraded pipelines and export facilities were moving around 5–7 million barrels of oil per day out of the region, taking the total oil flow to 15 million barrels per day, he said.
Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) demanded that the Trump administration brief the Senate after reports of Trump being moved to a different plane to leave Turkey after officials cited a credible Iranian threat last month following the NATO summit.
The President was reportedly asked to secretly switch from the legacy Air Force One to a smaller Air Force C-32A while leaving Ankara.
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Photo courtesy: Below the Sky / Shutterstock
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