Trump Declares Strait of Hormuz ‘New US Territory’ on Truth Social as Iran Vows to Keep Waterway Closed

Trump Declares Strait of Hormuz ‘New US Territory’ on Truth Social as Iran Vows to Keep Waterway Closed

United States President Donald Trump has escalated tensions with Iran by posting an image on his social media platform, Truth Social, that labels the strategic Strait of Hormuz as “NEW U.S. TERRITORY.” The graphic, posted on Tuesday, shows a map of the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman, with the strait circled beneath a banner reading “NEW U.S. TERRITORY.” The provocative post comes just days after Trump first raised the idea of a US takeover, saying at a political rally in New York state that “pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States.” Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of American control over Hormuz since the conflict began, earlier proposing a 20 per cent fee on all cargo shipped through the strait under what he described as the United States’ role as “Guardian of the Hormuz Strait.” The UN shipping agency said it strongly opposed any such fees and that there was no legal mechanism to impose them. The claim has no basis in international law. The Strait of Hormuz lies within the territorial waters of Iran and Oman and is governed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which guarantees the right of transit passage through international straits to all nations. However, legal experts note that neither Iran nor the United States is a party to the convention, stripping those provisions of binding force in this context, creating a legal vacuum where the principle of “transit passage” cannot be invoked legally.

Iranian officials have reacted swiftly and forcefully to Trump’s latest provocation. Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister, dismissed Trump’s comment as a “delusion,” warning that Tehran would “correct the delusions of this deluded man.” “The Strait of Hormuz has been Iranian, is Iranian, and will remain Iranian,” Gharibabadi said on X. “This strait will only be closed and opened under Iran’s command.” In a separate post, Gharibabadi also drew attention to the fact that Trump had “correctly” written the name of the “eternal Persian Gulf” rather than using the term “Arabian Gulf” preferred by US-allied Arab states. “Soon, his mistake regarding the Strait of Hormuz will either be corrected, or we will correct the delusions of this man who lives in illusions,” he wrote.

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Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s Parliament Speaker and chief negotiator, told parliament on Tuesday that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the United States meets Tehran’s demands. “I want to state clearly that the Strait of Hormuz will not be opened until the American commitments stipulated in the memorandum of understanding are implemented,” Ghalibaf said. Tehran’s four conditions include lifting the US naval blockade of Iranian ports, lifting oil sanctions, freeing up frozen Iranian assets abroad, and ending military threats and operations on all fronts. These conditions were outlined in a June 17 memorandum of understanding signed by both parties, which set a 60-day timeframe for a final peace agreement. However, the process quickly stalled over disagreements about control of the Strait of Hormuz, and Trump declared the agreement “over” on July 7.

The US president has also threatened to bomb Oman if the Gulf state interferes with American efforts over the strait. In a phone interview with Fox News, Trump said that if “Oman gets in the way we’ll bomb the s— out of them.” The threat came as Iran and Oman have been negotiating an agreement on managing the strait, with Tehran saying the two sides had reached an understanding on the route that ships would use. Trump later addressed the remarks while speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, saying of Oman: “I don’t think they behaved very well, but we’d handle them very easily, just like we do other things.” Oman, through whose territorial waters the contested Strait of Hormuz also flows, has positioned itself as a neutral party in the US-Iran war and is currently negotiating with Iran over the reopening of the critical waterway.

The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints, through which roughly 20 per cent of the global oil and gas supply normally passes. Before the war, approximately 110 ships passed through the waterway daily. Since the US-Israel-Iran war began on February 28, traffic through the strait has fallen dramatically. Only one ship crossed the Strait of Hormuz on August 16, down from eight ships on August 15 and marking a record low, according to S&P Global Commodities at Sea. The average number of ships transiting the strait over the last week was about 12 vessels per day, down from more than 130 a day before the United States and Israel attacked Iran in late February. The closure of Hormuz has driven up energy prices, creating a political headache for Trump as November’s midterm elections near. The national average price of gasoline in the United States have been at their highest recorded levels for the month of August, according to the AAA motor club, while Brent crude was at about $91 a barrel, up from $72 just before the start of the war.

Maritime law experts have questioned the legitimacy of Trump’s claim. Jason Chuah, Professor of Maritime Law at City, University of London, told CNN that a US claim to the territory could not be established simply through a presidential declaration. “Under US law, claiming territory by a Presidential declaration is not enough. There are important constitutional requirements that must be cleared first,” Chuah said. “Under international law, annexation is contrary to the United Nations Charter. Territories including bodies of water can only be taken through agreement or cession.” Simon Baughen, Professor of Shipping Law at Swansea University, said Washington’s claim over the strait was highly unlikely to ever come to fruition, describing such a scenario as “very unlikely.” Chuah stressed that neither Iran nor Oman has unrestricted rights over the entire Strait of Hormuz. “Freedom of navigation prevails. That is the law,” he said. “The Strait is neither Iranian property nor Omani property in the ordinary sense of a piece of real estate. It is sovereign territory very much subject to an international regime of maritime navigation.” “A navy can control a waterway. It cannot, merely by controlling it, rewrite the law of title.”

Trump Declares Strait of Hormuz ‘New US Territory’ on Truth Social as Iran Vows to Keep Waterway Closed