India, July 12 -- Hours after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said they were closing the Strait of Hormuz again, the United States said the waterway is "open to all vessels seeking to lawfully transit the waterway."

The US Central Command further said that "traffic is flowing" through the strait, adding that their forces "are positioned and prepared to ensure that freedom of navigation remains available despite unwarranted Iranian aggression, harassment, threats, and arbitrary declarations." The US CENTCOM asserted that Iran does not control the strait, saying pathways for for free transit remained open.

"Iran does not control the international waterway used by commercial vessels to globally transport goods and energy," CENTCOM...