US and Iran trade Strait of Hormuz control claims after fresh strikes

Dubai,UPDATED: Jul 13, 2026 11:36 IST

The United States and Iran on Monday both claimed control over the Strait of Hormuz after a weekend of attacks across the wider Middle East, raising fresh concerns over efforts to end the war through diplomacy. The latest round of strikes followed Iran's attack on a container ship in the strait off the coast of Oman on Sunday, putting the waterway back at the centre of the conflict.

The narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, through which a fifth of the world's traded crude oil and natural gas once passed, has seen repeated disruption since the war began. Iran and the US are nearing the midway point of a 60-day interim deal that was meant to prepare the ground for talks on a permanent end to the war, but it has instead turned into a series of attacks over the strait and its future. "A return to full-scale hostilities would have catastrophic consequences," United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement.

The US military's Central Command said its forces struck dozens of sites in Iran on Monday, including air defence systems, radar sites, missile and drone equipment, and small boats. "The Strait of Hormuz is a vital maritime corridor for global trade," Central Command said. "Iran does not control it." Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard rejected that, saying, "The Strait of Hormuz is our territory, and we will not allow a rogue and child-killing army from the other side of the world to continue its illegal interference in it."

Missile alert sirens sounded twice in Bahrain, home to the US Navy's 5th Fleet, while Kuwait said it was intercepting hostile fire. There was no immediate word on damage in either country. Jordan's military said it shot down four Iranian missiles in an incident that "resulted in zero casualties or material damage". Iranian state media reported explosions in several locations in Iran early Monday and said at least one person was killed.

Iranian attacks on Sunday also reached Qatar, Jordan and Oman, whose territorial waters with Iran make up the strait. Oman, which has long acted as an interlocutor between Tehran and the West, summoned an Iranian diplomat to criticise the attack. In Iraq's semi-autonomous northern Kurdistan region, a base belonging to the armed wing of the Kurdistan Freedom Party, an Iranian Kurdish opposition group, came under drone attack. Rebaz Sharifi, commander of the Kurdistan Militia Corps, said the strikes targeted the group's Chamshar base, but gave no details on casualties or damage. No group immediately claimed responsibility.

The US military said early Sunday that it had hit about 140 targets, including missile and drone launch sites, ammunition dumps, communication equipment and other locations, in a much heavier round of attacks than the previous two in the last week. US President Donald Trump told NBC's "Meet the Press": "We bombed the hell out of them last night." Iran responded by targeting countries in the region that host US military forces, while insisting that it alone must control the strait and could potentially charge vessels for travelling through it.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran's Parliament and a main negotiator, wrote: "The era of one-sided deals is OVER. We told you: keep your word or pay the price. Reality is knocking." Iran said the strait was closed, while the US military and Trump said it remained open. But Iran's chokehold on the strait has weakened somewhat as the US military has supported vessels travelling along a southern route close to Oman's coastline. Iran has repeatedly attacked ships using that route. Its pressure on the strait triggered a global energy crisis, though oil prices have fallen sharply from wartime highs of USD 120 a barrel.

Trump said last week that the interim deal in the war was "over", but mediators including Pakistan, Qatar and Egypt have continued trying to secure a final agreement. A regional official involved in mediation, speaking on condition of anonymity, said efforts to shore up the ceasefire continued on Sunday. Pakistan said its foreign minister spoke by phone with Iran's top diplomat and urged "de-escalation" on both sides. Iran's new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen since the war began, said in his first statement since the funeral of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Saturday that Iranians would avenge his killing. As the attacks continued on Monday, the status of the Strait of Hormuz remained at the heart of both the fighting and the diplomatic push to prevent the war from widening again.

With PTI Inputs

- Ends