US President Donald Trump has again called the Strait of Hormuz “NEW US Territory,” raising tensions with Iran as Tehran says the key waterway will stay closed until Washington changes course. Iran has rejected the US claim and warned against further military pressure, while Washington is targeting Tehran’s oil trade, financial networks and other economic lifelines with new sanctions.
US President Donald Trump on Sunday again shared an image on Truth Social describing the strategically important Strait of Hormuz as “NEW US Territory.”
Speaking at a police academy on Long Island on August 14, Trump said, “Pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Strait of Hormuz a territory of the United States. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Tehran would not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until Washington meets commitments under a 14-point memorandum.
Trump has also said the US has control of the waterway and linked the dispute to efforts to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. “We cannot let them have a nuclear weapon; we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon, or you will see some very bad things,” he said. “They want to make a deal so badly, we don’t even know if we want [a deal] because I view the Strait of Hormuz as an American territory right now; it’s an American territory,” he said. Mohsen Rezaei, Iran’s Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, said the waterway remains closed despite US claims. He said Iran would consider countries taking part in economic restrictions against Tehran to be enemies. Whoever enters it, we will consider it an enemy state,” he said. Earlier reporting noted: “We will not let even a single drop of oil be exported from the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.
The demands include lifting the blockade, releasing frozen Iranian assets and easing oil sanctions.
Earlier reporting noted: But Rezaei warned that countries refusing to distance themselves from Washington could face action against their interests. Earlier reporting noted: “We tell all the countries surrounding us not to enter an economic war against Iran.
