U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday that the Strait of Hormuz “will soon be open,” as tensions remained high in the Middle East and conflicting reports emerged about activity in the strategic waterway.
In a social media post, Trump said the strait would reopen and claimed ships were already heading to the United States to “load up.” He also repeated assertions that Iran’s military had been severely weakened, though those claims could not be independently verified.
Trump has also said the United States is “starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz” and claimed that all 28 of Iran’s mine-laying vessels had been sunk.
The comments came as U.S. and Iranian negotiators met in Pakistan for talks aimed at preserving a fragile ceasefire after weeks of conflict.
At the same time, there were conflicting accounts about military activity in the waterway. An Axios reporter cited a U.S. official as saying several U.S. Navy ships had transited the strait on Saturday.
Two U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers also passed through the strait, according to U.S. officials cited by The Wall Street Journal, marking the first such transit since the war began six weeks ago. The vessels were not escorting commercial ships and the mission was described as a freedom-of-navigation operation.
Iranian state television reported that a warning was issued to a U.S. military vessel, threatening an attack within 30 minutes if it crossed the strait, though a senior Iranian military official later denied that any U.S. ship had crossed.
Shipping data showed that two Chinese supertankers also passed through the waterway on Saturday, likely the first vessels to leave the Gulf since a U.S.-Iran ceasefire deal earlier this week.
The Strait of Hormuz, between Iran and Oman, handles roughly a fifth of global oil shipments, and fears of disruption have rattled energy markets.
First published: 16:26, 04.11.26