Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps spokesperson Hossein Mohebbi claimed Tuesday that President Donald Trump has been a "big liar" during the U.S.-Iran war, Fox News reports, citing Reuters.
The war, called Operation Epic Fury, passed the 7-month mark this week. Mohebbi said the U.S. knows Iran is not after nuclear weapons. Per Reuters, he said Washington's real issue is Iran's "vastness, which they want to destroy."
He also disputed Trump's claim that the Strait of Hormuz is under U.S. control. Sneaking a small vessel through to export "say, 100 or 200 barrels of oil does not mean the Strait is open," Mohebbi said, per Reuters.
Trump said Saturday: "We have total control of the Hormuz Strait, massive amounts of oil are coming out of the Hormuz Strait." Reuters, citing analytics firm Kpler, reported that September oil exports through the strait were near 10 million barrels a day. That is about half the prewar volume.
On Tuesday, Trump said at a White House event that Iran is "failing very badly" and that the war will be "over with very, very soon." He added that oil prices are "going to be tumbling down." On Sunday, he said more strikes before the midterms are "possible."
Tehran's other officials echoed the tone. Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei, speaking to Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev, said, per Iran's state-run IRNA:
Trump is trapped in a quagmire where he can neither negotiate nor fight.
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned, per Tasnim, that "in a region where we do not sell oil, no one will sell oil." Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari responded that any threat to infrastructure is "a violation of international law."
The economic pressure is moving in parallel. The Energy Department said Tuesday it is seeking proposals for an exchange of up to 40 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. That is part of a 172-million-barrel release. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said several European countries have released "only a fraction" of what they pledged. The Treasury Department also sanctioned 10 individuals and entities Tuesday over alleged Iranian weapons procurement networks.
On diplomacy, ZeroHedge, a financial news site, cites Iranian media saying Tehran's nuclear position has not changed. Trump posted that he offered Iran "NOTHING" on sanctions relief, calling the reports a "HOAX." Crude moved on a Saudi-state Al Hadath report that Iran agreed to halt enrichment. That report drew a quick denial, per ZeroHedge.
Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday that new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei is "very detached." Vance added: "We think that he is alive. I don't know of course."
One side says the strait is open. The other says it isn't. Kpler's numbers say roughly half.