US President Donald Trump says he wants the Strait of Hormuz to be an American territory. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump says he would declare the Strait of Hormuz a \u201cterritory of the United States\u201d despite having repeatedly failed to reopen it.<\/p>\n
Trump said today he would annex the waterway, before suggesting he already controlled it anyway.<\/p>\n
Iranian officials accused Trump of indulging in \u201cfanciful delusions\u201d.<\/p>\n
During
\n a speech in New York, Trump said: \u201cAfter we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated, pretty soon I\u2019ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States.<\/p>\n
\u201cEssentially, that\u2019s what it is. We have the blockade. No ships get through unless we want them to.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Trump also nodded to the economic upheaval unleashed after Iran effectively choked off the strait following the US and Israeli bombing on February 28.<\/p>\n
He said Americans would have to pay \u201ca tiny little bit more for your gasoline\u201d as the cost of ensuring a \u201cvery evil country\u201d could not develop a nuclear weapon.<\/p>\n
Traffic through the strait has slowed to a trickle since the start of the war, and Trump\u2019s attempts to reopen it \u2013 with military force, economic pressure and diplomacy \u2013 have failed.<\/p>\n
Just nine commercial vessels headed through the waterway on Thursday, according to data firm Kpler, which tracks shipping, compared to pre-war averages of 130 to 140 ships a day.<\/p>\n
Securing the strait, which is bordered by Iran and Oman, would almost certainly require boots on the ground, something Trump has so far been unwilling to contemplate.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Tehran would not be intimidated by the President\u2019s rhetoric.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cThe Strait of Hormuz cannot be seized by tweet, nor by aircraft carrier, nor by issuing an order, nor by an election speech. Iran neither fears threats nor cowers before displays of power.\u201d<\/p>\n
Directly addressing Trump, he said: \u201cOnce and for all, accept the reality: up to this point, you have suffered strategic and heavy defeats; the Strait of Hormuz has been Iranian, is Iranian and will remain Iranian.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sign up to Herald Premium Editor\u2019s Picks, delivered straight to your inbox every Friday. Editor-in-Chief Murray Kirkness picks the week\u2019s best features, interviews and investigations. Sign up for Herald Premium here.<\/p>\n