US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters on Sunday, 4 October 2026, that the US naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz has been fully effective and that control of the waterway lies with Washington, not the Islamic Republic. According to the Associated Press, as reported by Middle East Eye, he said the Islamic Republic has effectively been unable to move anything through the strait, while the traffic the United States wants has returned almost to pre-war levels.
Hegseth also stressed that the Islamic Republic will never obtain a nuclear weapon, calling its prevention a vital US interest. He said Donald Trump is determined to prevent it at any cost and is keeping all options on the table, adding that Tehran must make the “right choice”.
An IRGC commander's claim
Meanwhile, Ali Fadavi, head of the group of advisers to the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), claimed on Sunday evening, in an interview published by Mizan news agency, which is affiliated with the judiciary, that for the first time no US vessel is present in the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz or the Gulf of Oman, nor even in the northern Indian Ocean. He claimed that US forces have moved more than 1,000 kilometres away from Iran's borders.
Fadavi also said that any place from which Iran is attacked will be targeted, and described US bases in the countries of the region as equivalent to US soil. These claims have not been independently verified.
Washington and the IRGC are giving completely contradictory accounts of the situation in the Strait of Hormuz.
Background
Fadavi's remarks are in line with earlier statements by the Islamic Republic's army; army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia had also said on Sunday that US forces had been deployed as far as 1,000 kilometres from Iran's coast. Meanwhile, the White House has dispatched its third aircraft carrier to the region, and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of parliament, has said the Strait of Hormuz will not reopen until Tehran's seven conditions are met. The Islamic Republic's foreign ministry has also announced that the US response to Tehran's seven-day plan is under review.
Comments
No comments yet. Be the first.