Trump Claims '100% Control' of Hormuz, Demands Iran Pay War Reparations

Speaking from the Oval Office, President Trump said the US Navy has swept the Strait of Hormuz clear of mines and now holds '100%' control of the waterway, describing the ongoing US naval presence as a blockade restricting Iranian access. Trump said Iran should pay reparations for damage he claimed it has caused over the past 50 years, introducing reparations as a new flashpoint in the standoff. In response, Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said the strait will not reopen until Washington lifts its naval blockade and sanctions, withdraws US forces from the region, pays Iran war reparations, and unfreezes Iranian assets — leaving the two sides' conditions for a settlement further apart than before.