‘The Strait of Hormuz was, is and will be Iran’s’ – Tehran’s response to Trump’s claim

In a strong response to US President Donald Trump’s comments, Iran has made it clear that the strategically important Strait of Hormuz ‘was, is and will be Iranian in the future. Donald Trump recently claimed that the US will soon declare one of the world’s major energy waterways as US territory.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi dismissed Trump’s statement in a tweet, saying that the strait, which has been effectively closed since the start of the Middle East war, ‘will only be opened or closed on Iran’s orders.’

He also wrote, ‘Trump said that after Iran is defeated, he will declare the Strait of Hormuz US territory. The Strait of Hormuz cannot be captured by any tweet, aircraft carrier or administrative order. "Accept the reality that you have faced a strategic and major defeat so far - at least once."

Earlier, at a political rally at the Police Academy in New York, Donald Trump said with a laugh, "After Iran is completely defeated, I will very soon declare the Strait of Hormuz part of the United States." He also claimed that it makes sense to pay a little more for gasoline to stop a nuclear-armed 'rogue state'.

However, according to a report by 'The Wall Street Journal,' an anonymous White House official later clarified that Trump was originally joking.

Earlier, Donald Trump claimed on his social media 'Truth Social' that the United States has 'total control' over the Strait of Hormuz and that the US naval blockade has created a 'wall of steel' that Iran has no ability to penetrate.

However, the Iranian military dismissed Trump's claim as 'false and baseless'. In a video message broadcast on state television, Ebrahim Zulfaqari, spokesman for Iran's Central Military Command, Khatam-al-Anbiya, said that Hormuz is completely under the control of the Iranian military. No commercial ship or oil tanker can safely pass through it without the permission of the Iranian armed forces.

On the other hand, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also wrote on social media that the United States is repeatedly miscalculating due to intelligence failures and is now suffering from even greater misconceptions about the Strait of Hormuz.

It is worth noting that the war in the Middle East began on February 28, 2026, when the United States and Israel jointly launched air strikes on Iran. The attack killed several top leaders, including Iran's long-time supreme leader, 86-year-old Ali Khamenei, in response to which Iran retaliated against US and Israeli targets.