Iranian Navy commander Shahram Irani said waters east of the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman are now under Iran’s “complete control.” He said Iran is “around the clock” monitoring the movements of hostile forces outside the region. Irani also said Iranian armed forces remain on high alert under the leadership of the supreme leader, and that Iran will soon give its enemies a major, historic and unforgettable lesson at sea. The remarks were reported by CCTV International News.

Odaily, citing U.S. media coverage, reported that Donald Trump’s demands on the U.S. Navy reached a peak this month, adding to pressure on a service already dealing with heavy financial and logistical burdens. The report said the deployment of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln has set a record, with the ship remaining at sea for nine straight months, while sailors’ families warned that personnel on board were nearing their limit. A government report also said Trump’s proposed “golden fleet” of new battleships would cost billions of dollars more than expected. At the same time, experts criticized an order from the president to revive older technology, arguing that the move could seriously disrupt ship production schedules. According to the report, these issues are now piling up on top of longstanding Navy problems, including project delays, cost overruns and a shrinking fleet, raising concerns about its ability to carry out national defense missions.

President Donald Trump, in a post reported by Odaily on August 12, claimed that the United States has taken “complete control” of the Strait of Hormuz and that he believes the U.S. will “keep control going forward.” He described the U.S. naval blockade as a “steel wall,” saying it has been called that by everyone, and that Iran “can’t do anything” about it. Trump said Iran has “no navy, no air force,” that its remaining soldiers have not received salaries, that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has been “heavily hit and is fleeing,” and that Iran’s leadership is “uncertain at best.” He added that Iran has no money, describing the country as “riddled with holes,” and claiming that what remains is only “fake news” and inflation at 300%, which he said is still getting worse. He closed by saying Iran is now “all talk and no action” and is “no longer the bully of the Middle East.”

According to a ChainCatcher newsflash, U.S. President Donald Trump said in a new post that the United States has already gained complete control of the Strait of Hormuz and will continue to hold that control. He said the U.S. maritime blockade is known by everyone as an "iron wall" and argued that Iran is unable to respond. Trump also claimed Iran has no navy, no air force, and that its remaining soldiers have not been paid. In the same post, he said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has been heavily damaged and is in retreat. He described Iran’s leadership as, at best, uncertain. Trump further said Iran has no money and that the country has been left in tatters. He added that Iran is left with what he called fake news and 300% inflation, which he said is getting worse. He ended the post by saying Iran now only talks and is no longer the bully of the Middle East.

Yemen's navy said it foiled an attack on an oil tanker in the Red Sea, while Houthi forces claimed strikes on Saudi targets. Iran's president said no concessions were made in MOU talks, but a mediator diplomat told Axios that Tehran's team is awaiting National Security Council approval of an agreement with Oman and the US. US Treasury Secretary Bessent said the Strait of Hormuz will lose importance, as Iranian officials said a framework for passage has been clarified with Oman, and US officials expect a deal soon.

Bitcoin Magazine argues that the Coldcard security failure, while severe, does not invalidate self-custody as a core Bitcoin principle. The piece says a firmware bug affecting entropy generation left some private keys easier to guess than intended, with more than 1,300 BTC reportedly stolen and some estimates putting losses as high as 2,000 BTC. It also cites reports that over 11,000 BTC moved to custodial exchanges as shaken users pulled back from one of the industry’s best-known hardware wallets. From there, the article turns into a broader defense of private key ownership. It says Bitcoin cannot abandon self-custody without giving up part of the reason it exists: reducing reliance on trusted third parties. To make that case, the author links the current debate to the 2008 financial crisis, then goes further back to the 1933 U.S. gold confiscation order, arguing that centralized custody helped make seizure and monetary debasement easier. The essay presents Bitcoin as a form of digital gold built to survive that kind of pressure through tools such as multisignature storage, cross-jurisdictional key distribution, and the easier movement of large amounts of value. The article was written by Juan Galt and first appeared in Bitcoin Magazine.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview with Fox News that Iran is now more willing to negotiate on issues including its nuclear program and the Strait of Hormuz after Washington’s military strikes. Rubio said the U.S. attacks destroyed Iran’s navy, air force, missile defense systems, launchers, and weapons production facilities, and had "severely degraded" the country’s defensive capabilities. At the same time, he said Iran still has missiles and drones and remains capable of causing damage. Rubio also argued that Iran no longer has the conventional shield it had intended to rely on, and said that shift is the only reason Tehran is now willing — and in some cases appears eager — to reach agreements on denuclearization and Strait-related matters. The remarks were cited by Odaily, which attributed the report to Jin10.

According to a Jin10 report citing an interview on Fox News, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran is now more willing to negotiate on issues including its nuclear program and the Strait of Hormuz after Washington’s military strikes. Rubio said the U.S. attacks destroyed Iran’s navy, air force, and missile defense systems, and had "severely degraded" its defensive capacity. He added that Iran no longer has a "conventional shield," a change he said has altered the negotiating dynamic and made Tehran more open to reaching an agreement on denuclearization and the strait.