US warships pass through Strait of Hormuz amid Islamabad talks, but Iran denies transit: Report

Two US warships reportedly passed through the Strait of Hormuz, the first such transit since the war with Iran began. The US Navy guided-missile destroyers passed through the strait with no issues reported, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing three US officials.

The operation was not coordinated with authorities in Tehran, US media outlet Axios said.

Iran denies transit

Iranian state TV denied reports that US vessels had crossed the Strait of Hormuz, citing a senior Iranian military official.

A US vessel turned back after receiving a warning, an official was quoted by Iran International as saying.

Meanwhile, Iranian embassy in Ghana reacted to the US claims, saying, “America sent a destroyer warship to the Strait of Hormuz to intimidate Iran before the negotiations.”

“Iran picked up the phone: ‘You have 30 minutes.'…The ship turned around. It made a U-turn immediately!," the embassy claim.

It took a dig at Pentagon saying, "Then a Pentagon official had to go on AXIOS and explain that actually it was only 'freedom of navigation'."

“Now we know what a U-turn means. No shots fired. No missiles launched. Just Iran's word. And apparently, that was enough," the embassy said in a post on X.

Trump says ‘clearing out’ Hormuz

The development came as US President Donald Trump said Saturday that the United States had started "clearing out" the strategic waterway.

"We're now starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz," Trump said on his Truth Social platform, calling it "a favor" to countries such as China, Japan and France that "don't have the Courage or Will to do this work themselves."

He insisted that Iran is "LOSING BIG!" in the conflict, while acknowledging that Iranian mines in the strategic strait — through which a fifth of the world's crude passes — still pose a threat.

"The only thing they have going is the threat that a ship may 'bunk' into one of their sea mines," Trump wrote as the US began peace talks with Iran in Pakistan.

US officials did not immediately respond to AFP requests for comments about the reports.

Strait of Hormuz, the key shipping lane off the coast of Iran, has been virtually blocked by Tehran since the United States and Israel started bombing Iran on February 28, though reopening the strait was ostensibly a condition of the shaky ceasefire put in place earlier this week.

Iran, US talks

Senior Iranian and American officials began negotiations in Pakistan on Saturday in a bid to bring to an end a conflict that has plunged the Middle East into violence and sent shockwaves through the world economy.

Trilateral ceasefire talks between the United States, Iran, and Pakistan started in Islamabad, Al Jazeera reported, noting that this is the highest-level talks between Washington and Tehran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Ahead of the talks with the United States, the Iranian negotiating team held a strategic meeting in the Pakistani capital to fine-tune its agenda before the formal commencement of the "peace talks" with the US. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met the Pakistani Prime Minister.

Prior to this engagement, US Vice President JD Vance also held a high-level meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, according to a statement from the White House.

'Oil tankers head to US'

In an earlier post, Trump said that empty tankers were headed to the United States from around the world to purchase oil, without providing details.

Trump said oil carrying ships from many nations are all heading to the United States of America to load up with oil.

"We're now starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz as a favor to Countries all over the World, including China, Japan, South Korea, France, Germany, and many others. Incredibly, they don't have the Courage or Will to do this work themselves," he said.

"Very interestingly, however, empty oil-carrying ships from many Nations are all heading to the United States of America to LOAD UP with Oil," he added.