Iran responds to Trump over annexing Hormuz to be American territory

BS BULLETIN

Iran fired back after Trump said he could declare the Strait of Hormuz U.S. territory, insisting the waterway opens and closes only “under Iran’s command.”
Trump counters that America has the blockade and decides which ships pass.
Reality check: prewar traffic was roughly 130–140 ships daily. This week, it has fallen into the single digits on some days.

Iran has a message for President Donald Trump: You don’t own the Strait of Hormuz.

And Trump has a message for Iran: Just wait.

The extraordinary war of words over one of the world’s most important waterways escalated again Friday after Trump suggested that once Iran is defeated, he might simply declare the Strait of Hormuz American territory.

Speaking on Long Island, Trump said:

“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 then went further, arguing that the United States already effectively controls access to the strait:

“We have the blockade. No ships get through unless we want them to.”

Whether Trump was seriously proposing an American territorial claim or deliberately needling Tehran wasn’t clear. But Iran certainly didn’t treat it as a joke. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi came roaring back Saturday.

“The Strait of Hormuz cannot be seized by tweet, nor by aircraft carrier, nor by issuing an order, nor by an election speech.”

Then came the taunt:

“Iran neither fears threats nor cowers before displays of power.”

Gharibabadi insisted that Hormuz “has been Iranian, is Iranian, and will remain Iranian,” before declaring that the strait will be opened and closed only on Tehran’s command. And Iran attached a condition to reopening it. According to Gharibabadi, the blockade will continue until Washington accepts what Tehran calls the “reality of defeat.”

There’s enough chest-thumping there to fill the Persian Gulf. But behind the dueling declarations is a considerably more complicated — and dangerous — reality.

So who actually controls Hormuz?

At the moment, neither side’s political slogan tells the whole story. Iran has succeeded in dramatically choking commercial shipping through the strait.

But the United States has deployed overwhelming naval power to the region and says it can maintain its military blockade of Iran indefinitely.

Reuters reported Friday that only a handful of ships were moving through Hormuz as tensions escalated following attacks on two UAE vessels. And the comparison with normal traffic is staggering. Before the war, approximately 130 to 140 ships traveled through the strait every day.

On Tuesday? Kpler data tracked just eight vessels. Only one of those vessels actually exited the strait that day. That’s not normal shipping. That’s a maritime chokehold.

By Friday, Reuters reported no oil tankers transited the strait, as Tehran continued restricting traffic and Washington and Iran made competing claims of control.

This matters far beyond Iran and the United States. The Strait of Hormuz is the narrow gateway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman through which, under normal conditions, roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes. When Hormuz sneezes, energy markets around the planet catch pneumonia. Crude prices jumped again Friday following the tanker attacks and lack of progress toward a peace agreement.

American drivers are already feeling it. Reuters reported the national average gasoline price has climbed to about $4.08 per gallon, roughly 29% higher than a year ago.

Trump acknowledged the pain Friday, arguing Americans may have to accept somewhat higher gasoline prices as the price of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Meanwhile, negotiations remain stuck. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said no decision had been made to resume direct negotiations with Washington, while Tehran continues to demand concessions involving the strait before talks move forward.

That’s what makes Gharibabadi’s taunting statement more than another social-media exchange. Hormuz has become Iran’s principal piece of leverage. Iran cannot match American military power ship for ship or plane for plane. What it can do is threaten a waterway vital to the world economy and make the economic consequences of the war increasingly painful for everybody else.

Washington, meanwhile, is attempting to squeeze Tehran economically while demonstrating that the U.S. Navy can prevent Iran from exercising unrestricted control over the region.

The result is the bizarre spectacle we’re seeing now: Trump says America controls Hormuz. Iran says Iran controls Hormuz. And commercial shippers are behaving as though they don’t particularly trust either side to keep them safe.

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