Iran says it still controls Hormuz, not involved in negotiations with the U.S.

Iran said on Monday (July 27, 2026) it was still in control of the Strait of Hormuz and not seeking to resume peace talks with the U.S. after President Donald Trump halted a two-week bombing campaign that his top brass told him had run its course.

Also read: West Asia war updates on July 27, 2026

Following 13 successive nights of intensifying bombing that provoked Tehran to fire on U.S. bases in response, Mr. Trump halted the campaign over the weekend. Iran said it would pause its own attacks for as long as the U.S. pause in bombing endures. Mr. Trump’s decision to suspend the campaign reflected advice from his top brass that the bombing, aimed at breaking Iran’s grip on the strait, had reached the limits of what it could achieve, according to a U.S. official and widespread U.S. media reports.

The U.S. official told Reuters that military commanders had advised the President that they were running out of targets. The official said the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, had also expressed concern over the depletion of air defence weapons used to protect U.S. bases in the region.

The U.S. ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, said on Sunday (July 26, 2026) Mr. Trump had paused the campaign to allow room for negotiations.

But the spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Esmail Baghaei, said in a televised press conference on Monday (July 27, 2026) that Iran had not asked to resume peace talks with the U.S.

But in a clear bid to signal that the U.S. bombing had failed in its objective, Tehran indicated it was still in control of the world’s most important waterway for energy markets.

Several Iranian state media outlets carried the same report, citing an “informed source” as saying that Iran had turned around six “offending ships” on Monday morning (July 27, 2026) that had attempted to cross the strait without its permission. One of the vessels, the source said, had had “an accident”.

“As previously announced, the traffic route in the Strait of Hormuz is the route specified by Iran, and other routes are contaminated and have no way out,” the Iranian state media reports quoted the source as saying.