Trump Claims Iran Called to Halt Strikes; Tehran Denies, IRGC Shuts Strait of Hormuz

Washington/Tehran: US President Donald Trump claimed in an interview with Fox News that senior Iranian officials directly called him to request an immediate halt to American strikes on Iran. Trump said the operation involved 49 Tomahawk cruise missiles alongside combat aircraft that targeted Iranian radar installations and air defense systems. The strikes reportedly hit locations approximately 40 miles outside Tehran and along the Persian Gulf coast in southwestern Iran. Trump warned that bombing would continue the following night if no agreement was reached.
Iran flatly rejected Trump’s account. Iranian state television, citing a senior official, dismissed the claim as a fabrication designed to conceal what Tehran described as an American military retreat.
In a dramatic escalation, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced an immediate and total closure of the Strait of Hormuz to all oil tankers and commercial vessels, warning that any ship attempting to transit the waterway would be targeted. IRGC Air Force Commander Seyed Majid Mousavi issued a stark warning: “If America makes the Strait of Hormuz unsafe, we will turn the entire region into hell for America.”
The IRGC also stated that 18 major US military targets had been struck, including Ali Al-Salem and Ahmad Al-Jaber bases in Kuwait and Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain. Iranian media reported widespread explosions and intense air defense activity across southern Iran, including in Bandar Abbas, Minab, Jask, Qeshm, and Sirik. US Central Command (CENTCOM) separately confirmed that American forces had conducted strikes against multiple military targets inside Iran.
The region is bracing for further escalation as both sides exchange fire and rhetoric, with the Strait of Hormuz — a chokepoint through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil passes — now at the center of the crisis.