Trump says Hormuz carried 'a record amount of oil'; the Revolutionary Guard says the strait 'is closed'

Two accounts of one waterway. LBCI carries Donald Trump saying the US moved "a record amount of oil through the Strait of Hormuz last night, more than before the war". Shargh, citing Fars, reports that he claimed "full control" and said 29 ships crossed. The same day, Shargh carries an IRGC Navy statement that "the Strait of Hormuz is closed".

The drone. IRNA, Shargh and LBCI all carry the same IRGC statement. It says the Guard's navy seized a second US unmanned underwater vehicle. Shargh names it as a REMUS 600. That is one source, not three. LBCI says the claim comes from the Guard. Shargh says in its own voice that the craft was "hunted". IRNA's Persian service calls it a "spy" vehicle.

The words. IRNA's headline calls Trump's figures a "new claim". Shargh says Trump "claimed" and Iranian officials "emphasised". No report we hold hedges the Guard's account.

What is not settled - Whether ships are crossing. No report offers shipping data from anyone but the two governments. - Which ships were fired on. None is named, no flag is given, and no report says whether anyone aboard was hurt. - The drone. No US confirmation or denial is in the reports we hold.

This story is about whether the United States or Iran controls shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, in a war between the two.

The strait. Hormuz is the narrow sea passage between Iran and Oman. It is the only way out of the Gulf for tankers loading in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE and Iran. That makes it one of the world's most important routes for oil and gas. When traffic stops there, oil prices move everywhere.

How it got here. The US and Iran have been adversaries since Iran's 1979 revolution. In 2015 Iran agreed a nuclear deal with world powers, limiting its nuclear programme in return for relief from sanctions. In 2018 the first Trump administration left the deal and reimposed sanctions. In 2019 the Revolutionary Guard seized tankers in and near the strait. Hamas led an attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, and war in Gaza followed. In 2024 Iran and Israel struck each other directly. In June 2025 Israel attacked Iran, and the US bombed Iranian nuclear sites. The reports we hold now speak of a war between the US and Iran, and Trump compares traffic with "before the war". In an IRNA report, Iran's judiciary chief says "the enemy" imposed a naval blockade on Iran.

The actors. - The US, whose president says ships are passing and oil is flowing. - The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a branch of Iran's armed forces that answers to the Supreme Leader and has its own navy in the Gulf. It says ships may not cross without Iran's permission. - Ship owners and crews, who are counted in the reports but never named or quoted.

What is at stake. If ships are getting through, oil keeps flowing and prices can fall, as IRNA reports Trump promising. If the strait is closed, the oil that normally passes through it cannot reach the rest of the world.

Where it stands. Each government's account is the only one we hold. Neither has been checked against independent shipping data.