Iran Pushes Back on Trump, Says Strait of Hormuz Will Remain Under Its Control

President Donald Trump said on Truth Social on May 23 that a peace agreement with Iran was "largely complete" and awaiting only final confirmation. But Tehran is offering a sharply different account of what any deal would mean for the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s Fars News Agency reported on May 23 that Trump’s claim the strait would return to its previous state was inaccurate. The agency said its reporting showed the waterway would not revert to its prior condition.

Based on the latest documents exchanged, the Strait of Hormuz would remain under Iranian control even if a potential agreement is reached, Fars reported. Iran has agreed to allow ship traffic to return to prewar levels, but that would not amount to a restoration of prewar "free passage," it said.

Control over the strait, route selection, transit timing, passage procedures and permit issuance would remain under the Islamic Republic of Iran’s exclusive management, according to Fars. The agency said Trump’s description was incomplete and at odds with the facts.

That would mean Iran intends in practice to preserve a transit-fee system under the rationale of managing the strait’s security. It would also mean vessels without Iranian authorization could not pass, suggesting ships from Israel and other countries hostile to Tehran could face difficulties using the route. That would differ sharply from the principle of passage through international waterways.

Fars also reported that while Trump had previously presented negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program as a central and inseparable condition of any agreement, Iran had made no commitment on that issue and the nuclear question was not discussed at this stage.

The agency also claimed US officials had repeatedly told Iran in messages that Trump’s posts on Truth Social and other social media were aimed mainly at domestic media consumption and propaganda, and advised Tehran not to pay attention to them.

Iran expects about $25 billion in frozen overseas assets to be released if the agreement is finalized.

Iranian officials have cast the outcome of the negotiations as a victory. Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei wrote on X alongside an image of a stone relief showing Shapur I of the Sasanian Empire defeating a Roman emperor: "When Iranians frustrated delusional aggressors."

He added that the Romans believed Rome was the center of the world, but Iranians shattered that illusion. Baghaei also wrote that the emperor had no choice but to accept reality, arguing that Trump had likewise been forced to do so.

Lee Sang-eun in Washington at selee@hankyung.com