Iran's army says an 'Iranian order' holds in Hormuz; AP calls it 'the fighting with Iran' and names no one else
Two Iranian military claims about the Strait of Hormuz reached print on 29 September. Iran's army says the waterway is Iranian. The Revolutionary Guards say US warships can no longer reach their base in Bahrain. We hold no report that checks either claim, and none of the four reports says who is fighting Iran.
Iran's forces say they hold the strait. IRNA, Iran's state news agency, quotes army spokesperson Brigadier General Mohammad Akrami-Nia. He says an "Iranian order" now prevails in the Strait of Hormuz, and he calls the waterway Iranian. Life.ru carries a second claim, from Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC): US warships can no longer enter the Fifth Fleet base in Bahrain.
The other outlets name no one. The Independent, running an AP jobs report, blames higher US energy costs on "the fighting with Iran". De Telegraaf mentions only "the situation at the Strait of Hormuz".
| Outlet | What it calls it | Who is named as acting |
|---|---|---|
| IRNA | an "Iranian order" in an Iranian strait | Iran's army |
| Life.ru | US ships shut out of Bahrain | Iran's Revolutionary Guards |
| The Independent (AP) | "the fighting with Iran", "the Iran war" | Iran only |
| De Telegraaf | "the situation" at Hormuz | no one |
How the claims are sourced. Both Iranian claims are attributed. IRNA names its speaker in its first sentence. Life.ru's first sentence states the Guards' claim as fact. Its second sentence says whose claim it is.
What is not settled - Whether any US warship has been turned away from Bahrain. We hold no US account and no independent check. - Who is fighting Iran. None of the 4 reports says. - How big the energy shock is. AP gives no price figures. - What else the Iranian army spokesperson said. We hold only IRNA's first paragraph.
What this is about: who controls the Strait of Hormuz, the sea lane between Iran and Oman that links the Gulf to the open ocean.
Why the strait matters. Tankers from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE and Iran all leave the Gulf through it. There is no other sea route out. When shipping there is threatened, energy prices move worldwide. That is why an AP jobs report on US employers ends up mentioning a war with Iran.
How it got here. Iran and the United States have been hostile since the 1979 revolution. In 2018 the US left the 2015 nuclear deal and brought back sanctions. After the Hamas attacks on Israel of 7 October 2023 and the war in Gaza, Israel and Iran moved from a shadow war to direct strikes. The US was drawn in through its alliance with Israel. In June 2025 the US struck Iranian nuclear sites. The reports we hold now refer to "the Iran war" and an "energy shock" from it. None of them says who is fighting Iran or when this phase began, and we do not fill that gap from memory.
The actors. - Iran's regular army is the conventional force. Its spokesperson made the claim IRNA carries. - The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is a separate force that answers to Iran's Supreme Leader. It runs Iran's naval operations in the Gulf and made the claim about Bahrain. - The US Navy's Fifth Fleet is based in Bahrain. It patrols the Gulf, the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea. - Bahrain is a small Gulf kingdom that hosts that base.
What is at stake. If Iran can close the strait to US warships, US naval power in the Gulf is cut off at the choke point. If the claim is only rhetoric, that tells us something about how Iran wants the confrontation to be seen.
Where it stands. Iran's two armed forces claim control of the strait. We hold no US account, no account from Bahrain and no independent check.
The story so far
- Trump 'rejected' Iran's peace proposal, says a Reuters market headline; a US official says this week's talks are about an amended version of it · 28 Sep 2026
- Trump's 'record' Hormuz oil: Interfax repeats 'more than before the war', TASS notes he gave no figure, Shargh calls it a claim · 27 Sep 2026
- Jerusalem Post calls Iran's Hormuz offer a seven-day ceasefire plan, the Independent a 'peace plan', Iran's foreign minister 'not new' · 27 Sep 2026
- Jerusalem Post: Pezeshkian says Iran 'no longer trusts' US talks; Shargh: he asks only that the US 'return to the memorandum' · 26 Sep 2026
- Trump rejects Iran's Hormuz plan: The Hill calls it a ceasefire offer, Haaretz a plan to open the waterway, and one Lebanese paper lists the $12bn price · 26 Sep 2026
- Iran's president at the UN: IRNA leads with 'Iran has not started the war', Gulf News with 'US must choose' whether to end it · 25 Sep 2026
- Pezeshkian at the UN: IRNA leads on 'war was imposed on us', Shargh on 'victims of terrorism', An-Nahar on Hormuz and a US walkout · 23 Sep 2026
Earlier stories The AI Times filed on this thread.
What is being argued about
- Iran's army claims an 'Iranian order' in the Strait of Hormuz
- The Revolutionary Guards claim US warships are shut out of the Fifth Fleet base in Bahrain
- Higher US energy costs blamed on 'the fighting with Iran'
- None of the four reports names who is fighting Iran
Claims and verdicts
No claims registered.
Who wrote it
The Independent
Coverage, outlet by outlet
The Independent
The Independent
🇬🇧UK ·
digital · independent
КСИР заявил, что корабли США лишились доступа к базе в Бахрейне
Open this report in The AI Times →
Read it at Life.ru →
What we have measured
Absence of notice framed as a finding a booking agent not having heard is put in the headline as the news ×1Absence used as rebuttal a booking service's lack of notice is run as a counter-report, sourced anonymously ×1Actor framing The company is the only actor named. The regulator appears only as a law it obeys. ×1Actor label Calls the Ukrainian president the head of a 'regime' ×1
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
—
International Criminal Court
International Criminal Court
INT ·
official record · intergovernmental body
What we have measured
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
UN News
UN News
INT ·
official record · intergovernmental body
What we have measured
Actors named Names both vetoing states and the sponsor, and says what the draft would have created ×1Asserted versus attributed share of women and children among the dead given with no source ×1Asserted vs attributed Israel named as acting, stated in the report's own voice ×1Asymmetric verb The Iranian government's crimes are 'confirmed'. The US finding is only 'reasonable grounds'. The two findings are weighted differently in one sentence. ×1
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
International Court of Justice
International Court of Justice
INT ·
official record · intergovernmental body
What we have measured
Outlet profile in The AI Times →