The White House said Wednesday that President Donald Trump had already been briefed on Iranian state media reports claiming Tehran had closed the Strait of Hormuz, and said any such move would be unacceptable.
At a press briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump knew about the reports before she stepped to the podium. She said the administration was watching the situation closely as questions grew over the status of the strategic waterway.
Leavitt told reporters that shutting the strait would be “completely unacceptable.” She also said Iran was sending different messages in public and in private.
“What they say in public is different from what they say in private,” Leavitt said.
She said traffic through the Strait of Hormuz had increased during the day, a sign the situation on the water may not match the public claims carried by Iranian state media. Leavitt repeated Trump’s demand that the passage be reopened “immediately, quickly, and safely.”
Leavitt said that the president had also received private information indicating that the waterway was in the process of reopening, despite the public reporting suggesting otherwise.
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