US President Donald Trump said he would “soon” claim the Strait of Hormuz as US territory, declaring that Iran was suffering a heavy defeat.
“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 told supporters at a political rally held at a police academy in New York state.
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Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi responded that Tehran would not be cowed by American threats or displays of military power.
Writing on X, Mr Gharibabadi said the strategic waterway would be opened or closed only at Iran’s direction.
Iran, meanwhile, has moved to exercise de facto control over large sections of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial route for global energy supplies and other commodities.
The United States and Iran remain locked in a standoff over the passage, with Tehran blocking much civilian shipping while the US Navy maintains a blockade of Iranian ports.
“We have the blockade. No ships get through unless we want them to,” Mr Trump told an enthusiastic crowd.
The confrontation comes as traffic through the waterway appeared to slow almost to a halt following attacks on two additional vessels.
A senior Iranian source said talks aimed at building on a June agreement to end the war had made no progress.
After a renewed ceasefire subsequently collapsed, Iran resumed attacks on ships it accused of attempting to pass through the strait without permission.
US President Donald Trump made the claim at a political rally at a police academy in New York state
Two ships operated by the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company came under attack while crossing the strait yesterday evening, the United Arab Emirates’ state news agency WAM reported.
The UAE government blamed Iran, which did not immediately issue a response.
Ship-tracking company Kpler said nine vessels crossed the narrow waterway at the Gulf’s entrance yesterday. That was up from five on Wednesday, but still below the August average of 12.
Tracking data showed no visible crossings by vessels early this morning.
Some ships could have moved through with their transponders switched off, but the recorded traffic remains far below the more than 130 vessels that crossed the Strait of Hormuz each day before the war began.
“Alongside the threat to energy infrastructure in the region, Iran’s ability to restrict shipping through the strait is its main source of leverage in negotiations,” said Torbjorn Solvedt, principal Middle East analyst at risk intelligence firm Verisk Maplecroft.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth backed Mr Trump’s remarks, telling reporters that the US military could sustain a naval presence in the region to enforce its retaliatory blockade of Iran, which has caused severe economic damage.
“Indefinitely the United States Navy can maintain a blockade like that because we’ll rotate ships in and out, as we have, and we’ll continue to,” Mr Hegseth said during a visit to Panama.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington intended to impose further financial pain on Iran.
“Watch this space for more announcements coming next week because we are going to apply measures never seen in the history of economic isolation on a country,” he said in an interview with Newsmax’s ‘Rob Schmitt Tonight’ programme.
Mr Trump is facing mounting domestic pressure to bring the unpopular war to an end. Rising fuel prices have weakened his approval ratings and could threaten his party’s control of Congress in the November midterm elections.
Benchmark Brent futures and US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were each slightly higher, trading at about $87 (€75) and $81 (€70) a barrel respectively.
Global oil supply is dropping as a result of the conflict
India’s purchases of Russian crude rose to a record level in July, while Asian refineries, which rely heavily on Gulf fuel, bought US crude this week to protect supplies in the months ahead.
Iran has previously said it will keep the waterway closed until its demands are met.
Those demands include the removal of economic sanctions and the release of frozen Iranian assets.
An Iranian parliamentary committee approved Tehran’s plan for the strait yesterday.
Under the plan, the transit of assets and equipment belonging to the US, Israel and other “hostile” countries would be prohibited, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
The US suspended its blockade of Iranian shipping and ports for a month in mid-June, but later restored the measures. The move has cut off Iran’s main source of hard currency and deepened losses caused by wartime strikes against its energy infrastructure.
Washington had previously said it would end the blockade once Iran and Oman, the two countries bordering the strait, reached an agreement to resume commercial shipping.
Mr Trump has repeatedly threatened to intensify military attacks and “hit Iran hard”, though he has so far stopped short of sending ground troops, taking strategic islands or bombing desalination plants.
Earlier this week, Mr Trump indicated that he would place greater emphasis on economic pressure than military action.
The US has expanded sanctions on Iran and on individuals and entities it accused of helping the country obtain weapons, but the campaign has failed to bring Tehran back to negotiations.
Reports that Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis had attacked a Saudi Aramco refinery with drones yesterday revived fears that the conflict could spread across the region.
Global economists have predicted a steep slowdown in growth, with some areas potentially tipping into recession, and warned that the consequences would intensify if the war continued.
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