CENTCOM Contradicts Iran: Hormuz Traffic Still Flowing
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- CENTCOM stated on July 12, 2026, that ships are still moving through the Strait of Hormuz, directly contradicting Iran's claim to have closed the vital oil chokepoint.
- CENTCOM posted on X that 'Iran does not control the strait. Traffic is flowing' and directly challenged an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps statement asserting the waterway was shutting.
- The U.S. military called the Strait of Hormuz 'an international waterway' and declared 'U.S. forces are positioned and prepared to keep it that way.'
- Iran also attacked U.S.-allied Gulf neighbors in response to the latest series of U.S. strikes on Iran, according to the report.
- The flare-up further endangered a deal meant to halt the war while negotiators seek a definitive agreement to end the fighting.
- CENTCOM, which oversees U.S. forces in West Asia, issued the rebuttal on social media rather than through a formal press briefing.
Why it matters: Iran's Strait of Hormuz closure threat is its biggest leverage point in ongoing war negotiations — and CENTCOM just publicly stripped it away, declaring U.S. forces prepared to keep the waterway open. Iran's simultaneous attacks on U.S.-allied Gulf neighbors show the diplomatic pause is unraveling alongside the military standoff, making a negotiated deal to end the war harder to close.
