Iran has 'lost complete control' of Strait of Hormuz', US claims
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran had "lost complete control" of the Strait of Hormuz and that oil flows through the waterway had returned to near prewar levels, citing a seven-day moving average of 18.3 million barrels per day of Gulf crude exports on September 30 against an 18 million bpd average in the 12 months before the Iran war began. Brig Gen Mohammad Reza Naqdi, a senior adviser to the IRGC commander-in-chief, maintained Iran's stance that the strait is closed and that its armed forces have "full control" over it, and said routes deemed illegal by Iran would soon be closed. US Vice President JD Vance said Iran must make a "meaningful" reduction in its nuclear enrichment capacity to meet Washington's demands and end the seven-month war.
Why it matters: The competing claims over the Strait of Hormuz and the level of oil flows through it bear on energy security, as Gulf producers build alternative export routes and regional refining capacity recovers from wartime disruption.