US President Donald Trump says he plans to declare the Strait of Hormuz a US territory after the war with Iran, in a move likely to further escalate tensions over the strategically important waterway.
Mr Trump made the remarks on Friday while speaking at a police academy in Garden City, Long Island, New York.
“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.
The comments come as the United States and Iran remain locked in a prolonged conflict, with the strategic waterway at the centre of growing tensions between the two countries.
The Strait of Hormuz, which links the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman, is one of the world’s most important oil and gas shipping routes. Traffic through the strait has fallen sharply amid the conflict and competing claims by Washington and Tehran over control of the waterway.
Mr Trump has defended the US naval blockade of the strait, describing it as a “great service” to the world and claiming that the blockade is “a wall of steel”.
Iran, however, has rejected any suggestion that the United States can take control of the waterway.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the strait could not be taken over through a presidential statement, military force or decree, insisting that it “has been Iranian, is Iranian, and will remain Iranian”.
The latest remarks come amid stalled diplomatic efforts to end the conflict. The dispute over the Strait of Hormuz has become one of the key obstacles to restoring normal commercial shipping through the waterway.
The strait is particularly significant to the global economy because a substantial share of the world’s oil supplies normally passes through it. Disruption to shipping has already contributed to higher energy prices, adding to economic pressures in countries far beyond the Middle East.
While Mr Trump’s declaration would represent a major change in the status of the waterway, he did not provide details on how such a territorial claim would be implemented.
US media reports have also suggested that Mr Trump’s remark may have been made jokingly, although his comments were widely reported as a serious threat amid the continuing confrontation with Iran.
The remarks are expected to intensify the diplomatic and military dispute over one of the world’s most strategically important maritime routes.
