Trump says Hormuz is under US control. Traffic is not back.
Washington claims the mines are gone. Ship counts stay a fraction of pre-war levels.
US President Donald Trump has again said the United States has near-total control of the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint for a large share of the world's seaborne oil. He has claimed the Navy cleared or detonated Iranian mines in the international shipping lanes, and that the strait is open.
US Central Command has also said it cleared mines from recognised transit routes. Shipping data told a different story through late August. Before the war, roughly 130 ships a day moved through the strait. Recent tracking estimates put daily traffic in the low dozens at best, sometimes closer to a dozen.
Iran has kept asserting control over passage and has fired on vessels it says crossed without permission. Talks involving Oman over how to administer the waterway have not produced a durable opening. Oil markets have swung hard whenever claims of clearance collide with fresh strikes or fresh mine warnings.
On 30 August, the US fired on Iran again after Centcom said Tehran was preparing to lay more mines. Trump then posted an AI video of Iran's Kharg Island being destroyed. Oil prices jumped.
India imports most of its crude. When Hormuz stays half-closed, freight, insurance, and pump prices move even if New Delhi is not in the fight.
Trump's line is that America has cleared the lane and owns the security of the passage. Iran's line is that the strait is not open on Washington's terms. Shipowners are voting with empty lanes. That gap between presidential claims and actual sailings is what keeps prices jumpy.
Watch ship counts and oil prices more than the next Truth Social post. Until traffic returns toward pre-war levels, the strait is still a constrained artery for Indian fuel costs and global supply.