Iran and US clash over control of Strait of Hormuz as shipping drops 90%
Tehran and Washington issue competing claims over the strategic waterway after traffic falls to 13 vessels a day
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images
Photograph: Reality Tea (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz fell to 13 vessels a day on 12 August 2026, a 90% drop from the pre-attack average of 130 ships.
- Iran’s Basij head Hossein Taeb said the strait is under Iran’s control, while President Donald Trump claimed the US has total control over it.
- Iran’s conditions for reopening the strait include ending the US naval blockade, sanctions relief, troop withdrawals and war reparations.
- No left-rated outlet carried the story, according to the reports below.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 13 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 7 of the 20 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
86/100
Craft
87/100
Hype
30/100
20 sources · methodology
Thin on the left so far
None of the 13 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
The Strait of Hormuz remains a focal point of tension between Iran and the United States. On 12 August 2026, shipping data showed an average of 13 vessels passing through the strait daily, down from 130 before the US and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February. The figure marks a nearly three-month low.
Iran’s Basij paramilitary unit head, Hossein Taeb, stated on 13 August that the strait is under Iran’s control and management, according to the semi-official Fars news agency. Taeb accused the US of seeking to disrupt Iran’s regional influence through the conflict. The same day, Iran’s Persian Gulf Authority posted on X that the strait remains blocked and will not reopen until Iran’s conditions are met.
President Donald Trump countered on Truth Social, claiming the US has total control over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council has demanded an end to the US naval blockade, sanctions relief, American troop withdrawals and war reparations as conditions for reopening the waterway. The US has also demanded reparations from Iran.
Disagreement over control of the strait
The reports diverge on who controls the Strait of Hormuz. Reality Tea and WTVB, both centre-rated, carried Iran’s claim that the strait is under its control, with WTVB quoting Hossein Taeb’s statement to Fars news agency. Reality Tea also reported Trump’s claim of US control but noted that shipping data contradicts both sides’ assertions. The right-rated digests from CBN, Yonhap News Agency, NDTV, Free Malaysia Today and The Straits Times all reported Iran’s claim of control, with NDTV, Free Malaysia Today and The Straits Times quoting Taeb’s statement directly.
Trump’s claim of US control was reported by Reality Tea, which described it as disputed by Iran, and by the digests from CBN and Yonhap News Agency. CBN framed Trump’s statement as evidence of an economic stranglehold on Iran, while Yonhap News Agency called it "the worst fake information". No outlet reported evidence of physical control by either side.
What the coverage left out
None of the right-rated digests mentioned the 90% drop in shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. The figure was reported by Reality Tea, the only outlet to cite data from trade intelligence firm Kpler. No left-rated outlet ran the story at all.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 5 times, most recently on 13 Aug 2026, 11:00, and will add the sides that appear.
How other outlets pictured it
Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated left has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Centre
4 rated outlets
- The three centre-rated reports led on the contradiction between Iran’s and the US’s claims. Reality Tea’s full report opened with Trump’s assertion of total control and Iran’s firm rebuttal, then turned to shipping data showing a 90% drop in traffic. It quoted Iran’s Persian Gulf Authority on X: "Claims and repeated posts by U.S. officials that the Strait of Hormuz is no longer blocked do not change the reality."
- WTVB’s full report led with Hossein Taeb’s statement that the strait is under Iran’s control and management, then noted Trump’s claim of US control the previous day. It included Taeb’s accusation that the US had sought to disrupt Iran’s regional popularity through the conflict. hngn.com’s digest reported Iran’s rejection of Trump’s claim as an interim agreement nears its 17 August expiration date.
- All three centre-rated reports carried Iran’s conditions for reopening the strait: ending the US naval blockade, sanctions relief, troop withdrawals and war reparations. Reality Tea also reported that both sides have demanded reparations from each other. None of the centre-rated reports quoted US officials directly.
Right
9 rated outlets
- The five right-rated digests all led with Iran’s claim of control over the Strait of Hormuz. NDTV, Free Malaysia Today and The Straits Times each opened with Hossein Taeb’s statement to Fars news agency that the strait is under Iran’s control and management. Yonhap News Agency’s digest called Trump’s claim of US control "the worst fake information" and attributed the rebuttal to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
- CBN’s digest framed Trump’s claim as evidence that his economic measures against Iran are working, though it noted Tehran’s signals of potential escalation. None of the right-rated digests mentioned Iran’s conditions for reopening the strait or the 90% drop in shipping traffic. Only CBN and Yonhap News Agency named Trump’s claim of US control; the other three digests omitted it entirely.
Read it at the source
20 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Centre
4- Iran Claims to Control the Strait of Ormuz After Trump's Statements on US Control (opens La Libre in a new tab)
- Donald Trump’s Claim About Hormuz Looks Very Different From the Shipping Data (opens Reality Tea in a new tab)
Reality Tea — is Reality Tea biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Iran says Strait of Hormuz is under its control, Fars news reports (opens WTVB in a new tab)
- Iran Rebuffs Trump's Hormuz "Control" Claim as MoU Nears Expiry (opens hngn.com in a new tab)
Right
9- 'Worse Than Fake News is Fake Intelligence': Araghchi Slams Trump's 'Total Control' Remark Over Hormuz (opens Republic World in a new tab)
Republic World — is Republic World biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Worse than fake news is fake intelligence: Araghchi slams Trumps total control remark over Hormuz - The Tribune (opens Tribune India in a new tab)
Tribune India — is Tribune India biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Iran says Strait of Hormuz is under its control: Fars news report (opens Times of India in a new tab)
Times of India — is Times of India biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Iran dismisses US claims to reiterate control over Strait of Hormuz (opens Daily Sabah in a new tab)
Daily Sabah — is Daily Sabah biased? Our profile of this outlet
- 'I'm Their Banker': Trump Says Hormuz 'Wall of Steel' Working; Israel Faces Security Challenges in Gaza, West Bank (opens CBN in a new tab)
- "Worst Fake Information"… Iran Refutes Trump's Claim of 'Complete Control of Hormuz' (opens 연합뉴스-Yonhap News Agency in a new tab)
연합뉴스-Yonhap News Agency — is 연합뉴스-Yonhap News Agency biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Iran Says Strait of Hormuz Is Under Its Control: Report (opens NDTV in a new tab)
- Iran says Strait of Hormuz is under its control, Fars news reports (opens Free Malaysia Today News in a new tab)
Free Malaysia Today News — is Free Malaysia Today News biased? Our profile of this outlet
Not rated
7- Tehran Refutes Trump Again: There Is No Question of the US Controlling Shipping Traffic (opens Portfolio in a new tab)
- Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi Warns Trump About the Strait of Hormuz: 'Don't Make a Bigger miscalculation.' (opens Aydınlık in a new tab)
- US-Israel-Iran War Latest News: ‘Strait of Hormuz Under Our Control,’ Iran’s New Basij Chief Says ‘US Has Failed’ – Tehran Warns of Strategic Leverage (opens The Sunday Guardian Live in a new tab)
The Sunday Guardian Live — is The Sunday Guardian Live biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Iran Issues a Clear "Strait of Hormuz" Threat to Trump: Don't Miscalculate. (opens Akşam in a new tab)
- Iran Says Strait of Ormuz Is Under Your Control (opens Metrópoles in a new tab)
Metrópoles
- Iran to Trump: "The Road From Hormus Remains Blocked" (opens Moneycab in a new tab)
- Hormuz remains blocked, Iran dismisses Trump's claims (opens Daily Finland in a new tab)
Daily Finland — is Daily Finland biased? Our profile of this outlet
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Iran and US clash over control of Strait of Hormuz as shipping drops 90%?
- Of the 13 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 0% are rated left, 31% are rated centre, 69% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 20. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Iran and US clash over control of Strait of Hormuz as shipping drops 90% left or right?
- Neither side dominates it. Of the 13 rated outlets on this story, 0% are rated left, 31% are rated centre, 69% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
- Is the coverage of Iran and US clash over control of Strait of Hormuz as shipping drops 90% biased?
- Iran and US clash over control of Strait of Hormuz as shipping drops 90% is one event reported by 20 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Iran and US clash over control of Strait of Hormuz as shipping drops 90%?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Iran and US clash over control of Strait of Hormuz as shipping drops 90%?
- 20 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- How much has shipping through the Strait of Hormuz dropped?
- Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz fell to 13 vessels a day on 12 August 2026, a 90% drop from the pre-attack average of 130 ships. The figure is based on data from trade intelligence firm Kpler, as reported by Reality Tea.
- What does Iran want to reopen the Strait of Hormuz?
- Iran’s Supreme National Security Council has demanded an end to the US naval blockade, sanctions relief, American troop withdrawals and war reparations as conditions for reopening the strait. Both Iran and the US have also demanded reparations from each other, according to Reality Tea.
- Which outlets reported on the Strait of Hormuz dispute?
- Centre-rated outlets Reality Tea, WTVB and hngn.com, and right-rated outlets CBN, Yonhap News Agency, NDTV, Free Malaysia Today and The Straits Times carried the story. No left-rated outlet ran it, according to the reports below.
How did this read?
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