Iran ridicules President's claim he'll declare Strait of Hormuz US territory after winning war

By CAROLINE GRAHAM, US EDITOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY Published: 23:46, 15 August 2026 | Updated: 23:50, 15 August 2026 Iran hit back last night at Donald Trump's claim that he could declare the Strait of Hormuz a US territory. The President made the assertion during a speech at a Long Island police academy on Friday when he said: 'After we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated, pretty soon, I will be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States. We have control over it. Nobody else. Only us.' But last night Iranian deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi ridiculed the claim, saying the US has 'no authority' over the vital waterway that has become a flashpoint in the six-month war. On X he wrote: 'The Strait of Hormuz has been Iranian, is Iranian, and will remain Iranian. This strait will only be closed and opened under Iran's command. The Strait of Hormuz cannot be seized by tweet, nor by aircraft carrier, nor by issuing an order, nor by an election speech.' He added that as long as Mr Trump 'will not accept the reality of defeat' and stop indulging his 'delusions', Iran will continue to 'enforce its blockade' of the waterway which, before hostilities began in February, carried one-fifth of the world's oil supply. Iran launched a strike against an oil tanker in the strait yesterday according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations Centre, which said that a vessel belonging to the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company was hit by an 'unknown projectile'. No injuries were reported in the strike, which allegedly hit the vessel's hull. The strait – which links the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea – is currently under the shared jurisdiction of Oman and Iran. But Mr Trump has repeatedly insisted that he will seize ownership as part of any peace deal. The US has twice deployed a total blockade of the waterway and Mr Trump insists vessels which continue to pass through do so only with America's permission. Only six vessels travelled through the strait last weekend – a fraction of the 140 oil tankers that would typically cross each day before the war. Oil prices have surged since the start of the conflict, with the price of crude rising 6 per cent this week as hopes of a peace deal between the US and Iran faded. Mr Trump told Fox News on Friday that he will continue to 'hit Iran's economy hard'. Iran hit back last night at Donald Trump's claim that he could declare the Strait of Hormuz a US territory Only six vessels travelled through the strait last weekend – a fraction of the 140 oil tankers that would typically cross each day before the war He added that he 'didn't care' whether or not the war ended before November's midterm elections in the US, in which the cost of living will be the number one issue for voters. In a speech earlier this month, he said 'to the victor goes the spoils', and declared that the US would impose tolls on the strait once the war had ended. Mr Trump said: 'We will take control of the strait and we will charge ships to go through it and we will make lots of lovely money.'