Trump Posts Map Showing Strait of Hormuz as ‘New’ American Territory

The White House is amplifying a social media post by President Trump on Truth Social that labels the Strait of Hormuz as a “New U.S. Territory.” The image did not include any additional comment.Mr. Trump had said last week that he would declare the strait an American territory “pretty soon” and Monday a reporter asked the president to elaborate on what he meant.“I just think it’s a great idea,” Mr. Trump responded. “We control it with the blockade, and I like the idea of declaring it a territory. We have total control over the strait now.”Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi on Tuesday dismissed Mr. Trump’s post and called him delusional. “Just as Trump correctly wrote the name of the eternally Persian Gulf, his delusion about the Strait of Hormuz will soon either be corrected, or we will correct the delusions of this delusional man,” Mr. Gharibabadi wrote on X.Mr. Trump said the strait is open and millions of barrels of oil are flowing through the waterway, but ships are being attacked regularly, and tracking sites were reporting between zero and a half-dozen vessels headed eastbound out of the Persian Gulf as of Tuesday afternoon local time. The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations center wrote that a ship was hit by an “unknown projectile” early Tuesday as it was trying to leave the strait. The impact caused damage to the engine room and killed a member of the crew. The Omani Coast Guard was helping the rest of the crew, according to the British military agency.No one has claimed responsibility for the attack but Iran carried out prior attacks and has said the waterway will remain closed until America lifts its blockage and meets a list of other demands.Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, addressed some of those terms on Tuesday, saying America must release blocked assets, end military operations, and meet conditions set out in the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, Open Source Intel reported.Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz ground to a halt in March after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ordered traffic through the waterway to stop in retaliation for Israeli and American attacks. An interim peace agreement to end fighting called for the strait to reopen but that deal collapsed after Iran claimed that ships would have to pay a toll to use the waterway. Iran, for months, has attacked ships that have attempted to pass through the strait without coordinating transit with Tehran.

Trump Posts Map Showing Strait of Hormuz as ‘New’ American Territory

Trump Posts Map Showing Strait of Hormuz as ‘New’ American Territory

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