Arabic version: ترامب يتعهد بإعلان مضيق هرمز إقليماً أميركياً

According to Al Jazeera, United States President Donald Trump said he plans to declare the Strait of Hormuz a US “territory” after what he described as Iran’s defeat. Speaking in New York on Friday, Trump said the waterway would soon be claimed by the United States. The strait is critical to global supplies of oil, natural gas and fertiliser.

“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,” Trump told supporters, according to the report. He also called the US blockade in the strait “unstoppable” and “a wall of steel”, describing it as a service to countries reliant on traffic through the waterway.

The United States and Israel have been at war with Iran since February 28, following a series of strikes. Iran responded by restricting traffic through the strait, which previously carried roughly 20 percent of the global oil supply. Control of the waterway has become a major issue in ceasefire negotiations, while Iran has continued targeting commercial vessels and says part of the strait lies in its territorial waters.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi rejected Trump’s statement on social media. “The Strait of Hormuz cannot be taken over by a tweet, nor by an aircraft carrier, nor by issuing a decree, nor by an election speech,” he wrote. Both countries have floated tolls on commercial traffic, though legal experts cited by Al Jazeera said such charges would be illegal under international law.