India, April 24 -- US President Donald Trump, on Friday, said that the US Navy is enforcing the closure of the world's most vital oil chokepoint, the Strait of Hormuz, not Iran. At the same time, Tehran refuses to budge until a "suffocating" American blockade is lifted.

It is not Iran, but the US that's keeping the Strait of Hormuz closed, Trump said in a remark, adding that opening the critical waterway means that Iran will make "$500 million a day." 

The statement comes as the global energy market reels from the total halt of the maritime traffic through the crucial waterway, where typically one-fifth of the world's oil supply passes.

"We have total control," Trump told reporters at the White House, dismissing claims that Iran's...