US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he will soon declare the Strait of Hormuz to be American territory. Iran rejected the claim within hours.
Trump made the statement during a speech at a voter event in New York state on August 14. DR reports that he said the declaration would come once the United States has finished defeating Iran, which he described as suffering a very large defeat.
According to DR, Trump also said the United States has a blockade in place, and that no ships pass through unless Washington wants them to. He told the audience that Iran cannot be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons, a line that drew applause.
Trump said it took the United States only one day to gain control of Venezuela. He also said he had built up the American military, while adding that he had used it somewhat more than he had wanted to.
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The Guardian reported that the remarks came at the David S. Mack Center for Training and Intelligence in Garden City, New York, at an event built around crime and the economy. The paper noted that roughly a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil supply normally passes through the strait.
Reuters reported that Trump tied the planned declaration directly to the outcome of the war with Iran. The agency noted that his words assert control over a waterway where the United States does not hold sovereignty.
As noted by The Hill, Iran and Oman share jurisdiction over the strait under international law. Several outlets reported that Trump did not explain any legal or practical mechanism for turning the waterway into US territory.
Fox News reported that Trump, in a separate interview the same day, said the United States owns the strait in the true sense. He described the naval blockade as a wall of steel, allowing only approved vessels through.
Iran rejects the claim
Iran’s deputy foreign minister for international affairs, Kazem Gharibabadi, responded on the social platform X. Per his post, the Strait of Hormuz cannot be taken over with a tweet, a warship, a decree, or an election speech. He added that Iran is neither afraid of threats nor intimidated by power demonstrations.
CNBC reported on August 13 that the state-linked Iranian Persian Gulf Strait Authority said the strait remains blocked. According to that statement, it will not be reopened until Iran’s conditions are accepted.
CNN reported that the comments came at a campaign-style event, where Trump linked higher fuel prices to the effort to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Reuters reported that he had already claimed total control over the strait on Truth Social on August 12.
