President Donald Trump waves while boarding Air Force One. (Photo: AP)
US President Donald Trump’s Hormuz claim – that it will ‘soon be US territory’ – received a pithy pushback from Iran after Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi wrote on X: The Strait of Hormuz cannot be seized by tweet.”
Gharibabadi also warned Trump he could not hope to ‘seize the Hormuz’ by ‘aircraft carrier or election speech’, referring to the President’s many attempts to fashion an end to a war that began in February with joint US-Israel strikes.
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The exchange was prompted by Trump’s comments Friday at a New York event.
"Pretty soon I'll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States."
President Trump floats a dramatic move involving the strategically critical waterway as he says Iran is being "very badly defeated." pic.twitter.com/zXJhCfOIqH
“Pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States,” the President said with a chuckle, though he offered no details on how he planned to achieve that goal.
He repeated the claim in an interview with American broadcaster FOX News.
He did, however, insist Americans must accept rising fuel prices as the ‘cost of standing up to Iran’. The President was particularly blunt on this topic, declaring, “I’ll never apologise. I did the right thing.”
The remark is unlikely to go down well with people struggling to deal with those prices and wary of further increases as Iran continues its chokehold over the Hormuz, which ships an estimated 20 per cent of the world’s energy supply. It is also not likely to endear himself to a small but growing group of Republicans concerned about the impact of the war – and fuel prices at record high mid-August levels – on the November mid-terms.
What did Iran say?
Gharibabadi’s response was unequivocal; ‘Hormuz has always belonged to Iran and always will, and it will only be opened or closed on Iran’s terms’. The Deputy Foreign Minister said also that Iran does not fear threats and would not give in to ‘shows of power’, with the comment seen as a jab at the US’ bluster and military campaigns.
His boss, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, also spoke out, pointing out that a peace agreement had been signed in Pakistan in June that was to herald the end of the war. He accused the US of breaking that deal.
No decision has been made, yet, about returning to the negotiating table, Araghchi said, though he admitted also that Qatar and Pakistan – who have acted as intermediaries – remained in touch with him.
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But, he warned, a new set of communication channels need to be established to rebuild trust.
Finally, he also spoke about talks with Oman about jointly managing the Hormuz. Experts from both sides, as well as the respective armed forces, are working out shipping routes, he said. An announcement may be made soon, he said, though he also made it clear this is a separate matter from peace talks with the US.
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President Donald Trump waves while boarding Air Force One. (Photo: AP) 
