Open or closed? Iran and US disagree over activity in the Strait of Hormuzpublished at 10:30 BST
Debate is continuing between Iran and the US over the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
On Wednesday, Iranian state media reported the busy shipping channel was “completely closed to all type of vessel”.
On Thursday morning, Iran’s waterway authority says again the strait is closed, state media reports, following a new wave of US strikes yesterday.
However, overnight US Central Command denied its closure, writing: “Commercial ships are continuing to transit in and out of the Strait of Hormuz tonight.”
The Strait of Hormuz remains at centre of negotiations, with both the US and Iran attempting to exert control over its future.
Iran has been blocking the waterway since the beginning of the war leaving thousands of sailors stranded, with the US imposing a blockade on Iranian ports in retaliation.
Iran has created the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, which it says will allow the Iranian army to oversee vessels moving through after the war.
But the US insists Iran will not be allowed to control the strait after the war – Donald Trump claimed on Wednesday that the US military had helped 200 commercial ships pass through the waterway as part of a “secret mission”.
