Tehran on Saturday said the Strait of Hormuz “has been Iranian, is Iranian, and will remain Iranian”, an assertion that came after President Donald Trump said the United States would “soon” declare the key energy waterway part of US territory.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi stressed that the strait — Tehran effectively closed at the start of the Middle East war, will “only be closed and opened under Iran’s command”. “Trump has said that after Iran’s defeat, he will soon declare the Strait of Hormuz as US territory. The Strait of Hormuz cannot be seized by tweet, nor by aircraft carrier, nor by issuing an order, nor by an election speech,” he said in a post on X. His reaction came hours after Trump said he would “finish defeating” Iran and “soon” declare the strait — which is the world’s most vital energy conduit — part of US territory. “After we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated — pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States,” he said with a chuckle during a political rally at a police academy in New York. “I THINK WE WILL KEEP IT,” he said in a Truth Social post . The Iranian military, however, called Trump’s claim “lies” and said the strategic waterway was fully under Iranian control.
