US President Donald Trump says US forces are 'clearing' Strait of Hormuz

US President Donald Trump said that United States is clearing the Strait of Hormuz, claiming that Iran is "losing big".

US President Donald Trump ⁠on Saturday ⁠posted ‌that ​the United States military has started ​to ⁠clear the Strait of Hormuz ⁠and ‌that all of ‌Iran's minelaying ⁠ships have been sunk.

Donald Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday.

"We're ‌now ‌starting the ‌process ‌of clearing out the Strait of ⁠Hormuz," ⁠Trump wrote in a social media ​post.

Minutes before Trump's post, reports started to emerge about the presence ⁠of US ‌naval ships in the strait.

An Axios journalist, citing an unnamed US official, ‌posted that "several" US ships had crossed the strait on ⁠Saturday, though Iranian state TV soon after reported a denial from an official ‌with Iran's military.

Trump has repeatedly ‌said that American forces have destroyed Iran's navy ‌and air force while crippling its ballistic ‌missile and nuclear programs.

But fear of Iranian attacks on shipping over the past several weeks has effectively closed ⁠the Strait ⁠of Hormuz, a critical conduit for global oil supplies. Throttling the strait has disrupted global energy markets.

US gasoline prices have spiked even though most of the oil that flows through the waterway does not go to the ​United States.

Representatives from the US and Iran ​began talks hosted by Pakistan ​in Islamabad on Saturday amid a fragile ceasefire in the ​conflict.