Iran-US war latest: Tehran rejects Trump’s claim of ‘total control’ over Hormuz as traffic nears 3-month low

Trump reiterates America's 'complete control' over Hormuz despite Tehran's 'clear message' that strait will remain shutIran has again rejected Donald Trump’s claims that the US has “total control” over the Strait of Hormuz.Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority said “the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked” and it will not be opened until Iran’s conditions are accepted.“The successive claims and tweets by American officials about lifting the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz do not change reality,” it said on X.Trump earlier said that “praise be to Allah”, Washington has “total control over the Strait of Hormuz", adding: "I THINK WE WILL KEEP IT!”Amid their conflicting claims, data from trade intelligence firm Kpler showed shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz was near a three-month low.Just 13 vessels transited the waterway on Tuesday, around 90 per cent below the daily average of 130 before the US and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February.Tehran has effectively closed the strait under threat of military action since the US and Israel attacked in February. Iran and Oman have recently been discussing a mechanism to reopen it under their management in a move that would hand even more leverage to Iran, with US talks to end the war still on ice. US gas prices hit their highest mark ever for mid August as Trump’s Iran war drags onPatrick De Haan, the head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, reported in a post on X that gas prices have never gone above $4 per gallon after August 12 in any year.On Wednesday morning, the average fuel price was just over $4 per gallon. The last time fuel cost nearly that much around mid-August was in 2022, when the national average gas price was $3.98 per gallon.Read on...Graig Graziosi13 August 2026 07:01X suspends Houthi spokesman's accountX has suspended the account of Yahya Saree, the military spokesman for Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.The account, which had more than 121,000 followers, now displays a notice saying it was suspended for violating the platform’s rules. Saree regularly used it to announce Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea, as well as operations targeting Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s internationally recognised government.Shweta Sharma13 August 2026 06:40Iran says 'no talk ‌of an extension' of 60 day ceasefireIran and the United States remain at loggerheads over efforts to agree a permanent end to the war in the Gulf, according to a senior Iranian source who said there had been no progress in talks to revive the interim deal agreed in June and define a timeframe to implement it.The comments were a further ⁠blow to hopes of a swift resolution to the crisis, following attacks on shipping in the region on Tuesday that pushed oil prices higher."One of the ​issues ⁠that is being discussed via mediators is the US returning to the interim agreement and defining a timeframe for implementing the commitments. There has been absolutely no progress on this issue," the Iranian source said.The Iranian source dismissed a report on Wednesday from Turkey's Anadolu news agency that quoted Pakistani ‌government sources as saying they had agreed to extend that 60-day period."There is no talk ‌of an extension because, from Iran’s perspective, there is no period that began and therefore nothing to extend. The United States violated the interim agreement 48 hours after it was reached and withdrew from it a few days later," the source told Reuters.Mourners pose for keepsake photos in front of the Iranian flag and the flag of Hezbollah in Lebanon near the Imam Reza Shrine (Getty)Both Iran and the United States have stepped up rhetoric in the past two days.Iran's top security official, Mohsen Rezaei, said on Tuesday that the Strait of ⁠Hormuz would remain closed unless the US accepted Iran's conditions to end the war.That followed a new demand from Trump on Monday that Iran should pay compensation for people killed in 50 years of wars, attacks and protests.Shweta Sharma13 August 2026 06:30Trump defends secret flight swap after using Air Force One as decoy: ‘The plane I flew on was at greater risk’Trump was sent into the sky out of Turkey in the second plane after a recent summit in Turkey because the Secret Service and military wanted him on a “different plane” due to a threat from Iran.”I think actually the ​plane ⁠that I flew on was at ‌greater risk,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday. “I think it was at greater risk because that would be the plane I think that they would be more likely to go for.”Shweta Sharma13 August 2026 06:13Trump’s Iran approval plunges 24 points among votersA cable TV polling expert claims that numbers from two surveys conducted two years apart show just how deeply President Donald Trump has disappointed America's voters when it comes to Iran.CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten said Tuesday that a July 2024 poll of people who were extremely motivated to vote in that year’s presidential election found that 53 percent were confident Trump would be able to handle the situation in Iran, according to a video clip posted online.But a July poll of people extremely motivated to vote in November's midterm elections shows that just 29 percent now approve of how Trump is actually handling Iran, Enten said.James Reynolds13 August 2026 06:02US strikes targeting Houthis killed 153 civilians in Yemen last year, Pentagon review says More than 150 civilians were killed in US airstrikes targeting Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen last year, according to a Pentagon review of the attacks, which comes as concerns rise over civilian casualties during military campaigns under the Trump administration.The unclassified assessment was sent to Congress as part of an annual report on civilian casualties, according to NBC and AP reports.A Pentagon official, who was not authorised to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the department will submit the report in the coming months but had nothing more to announce.Most casualties occurred in three major strikes in April 2025, including one that targeted hostile forces in or near Yemen's rebel-held capital city of Sanaa as well as the Ras Isa port, the report said.As many as 80 people and 171 others were injured. It sent massive fireballs billowing skyward and turned tanker trucks into burning wrecks. Shweta Sharma13 August 2026 05:57Iran knew key details of Trump’s hotel in Turkey, leading to plane switcheroo - reportU.S. intelligence officials reportedly identified threats from Iranian surface-to-air missiles and a potential shoulder-fired missile before President Donald Trump secretly swapped planes after leaving last month’s NATO summit in Turkey.Iranians also knew specifically where the president was staying during the Ankara trip, down to the floor of the building, according to officials who spoke to The New York Times.Read the full report:James Reynolds13 August 2026 05:00Iran slams France for 'lecturing the world about human rights'The Iranian foreign minister has criticised France and other Western nations for what it said was “hypocrisy” over comments condemning Tehran’s handling of internal dissent in the country while not taking meaningful action on Israel’s abuses in the Middle East.“Countries like France should stop lecturing the world about ‘human rights’ and international law. The hypocrisy is blatant and embarrassing,” Abbas Aragchi wrote on X.“Your backing of Israel’s genocide in Gaza – and aggression against Iran – has destroyed whatever moral high ground you imagined you had.”France on Wednesday confirmed that the EU and 20 other nations have released a joint statement condemning ‌Iran’s killings of protesters.The countries demanded Tehran take meaningful ‌steps towards ensuring respect for human rights, end the use ⁠of the death penalty and release ⁠those arbitrarily detained. Shweta Sharma13 August 2026 04:45Rubio and Bessent stayed on decoy flight from Turkey as Trump switched planes, official saysThe two most senior members of president Donald Trump's Cabinet, secretary of state Marco Rubio and treasury secretary Scott Bessent, flew out of last month's Nato summit in Turkey on what was effectively a decoy plane following an Iranian threat, while Trump was secretly moved to a smaller military jet, a senior US official said Wednesday.The official, who was briefed on the situation and spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details of presidential travel, said Rubio was aware of the switch and details of the threat behind it but could or would not say why he had stayed on the plane. The official said Bessent was likely aware but did not know for sure.The official, however, noted that security precautions for the president – especially one who has been the target of several assassination attempts – are more robust than those for even top members of the Cabinet.(AP)Trump had flown to the annual gathering of Nato country leaders in Ankara, Turkey, in a new Qatari-gifted and retrofitted red, white and navy blue jet. But ahead of departing Turkey, he said he would fly partway home on an older-model baby blue Air Force One plane instead.The New York Times and CBS News had reported last month that intelligence officials had raised concerns about a potential attack on the president or his jet, triggering additional precautions and the decision not to use the newly inaugurated aircraft gifted to Trump by Qatar for the first leg of Trump's trip home from Ankara. Shweta Sharma13 August 2026 04:25Comment: Trump’s ‘Catering Truck One’ escape was truly brave – if he’d got stuck, he’d have had to eat his way outNot since Boris Johnson hid in an industrial refrigerator have we witnessed such James Bond-like agility from a world leader, says Sean O’Grady:James Reynolds13 August 2026 04:00