US President Donald Trump insisted this Tuesday on calling the Strait of Hormuz a “new US territory,” by posting a photograph on his social network Truth Social with this designation.
The image shows a map of the strait that separates the Persian Gulf from the Gulf of Oman, where a circle points to the Strait of Hormuz and the text “NEW United States territory”, accompanied by a blue, red, and white stripe with stars.
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Already last Friday, Trump stated that he planned to incorporate the Strait of Hormuz as “United States territory” after “defeating Iran,” raising the tone against Tehran while his negotiations remain stalled and the deadline for the ceasefire agreed upon in June has already expired.
“After we finish defeating Iran, which is being defeated very badly, very soon I will declare the Strait of Hormuz United States territory, in essence. We have a blockade. No ship passes unless we want it to pass,” Trump declared then at a political rally in Long Island (New York).
A few days earlier, the U.S. president had already mentioned the idea that the United States should “keep” the Strait of Hormuz, arguing that it already controls the maritime route because U.S. attacks carried out since February have decimated Iranian military capabilities, something Tehran has rejected.
“The United States has total control of the Strait of Hormuz. I think we’ll keep it!”, Trump wrote last Wednesday on his Truth Social network, asserting that “there is nothing Iran can do about it”.
Yesterday, August 17, marked the end of the 60-day deadline that the U.S. and Iran set for themselves with the signing of a memorandum of understanding on June 17, which declared an “immediate and permanent cessation of military operations on all fronts” as part of a process to negotiate an end to the war in the Middle East.
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The Strait of Hormuz, between Iran and Oman, is one of the world’s main routes for oil and gas transport and has become the biggest flashpoint in the conflict between the United States and Iran.
