‘Can’t be seized by a tweet’: Iran hits back at Trump over Strait of Hormuz claim

Iran has sharply rejected US President Donald Trump's suggestion that he could declare the Strait of Hormuz American territory, saying the strategically vital waterway cannot be taken over through a social media post, an aircraft carrier or a presidential declaration.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi issued the response after Trump said the United States could claim the Strait of Hormuz once Iran had been defeated in the ongoing conflict.

Speaking at an event in Garden City, New York, on Friday, Trump said: "After we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated... Pretty soon I'll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States."

The remarks represented another escalation in the increasingly bitter rhetoric between Washington and Tehran as the Strait of Hormuz remains at the centre of their confrontation.

Iran rejects Trump claim

Gharibabadi dismissed Trump's comments and insisted that Tehran would continue to exercise control over the strategic passage.

"The Strait of Hormuz cannot be seized by tweet, nor by aircraft carrier, nor by issuing an order, nor by an election speech," the Iranian official said in a social media post.

He added that Iran was neither intimidated by threats nor displays of military power and declared that the waterway "has been Iranian, is Iranian, and will remain Iranian".

Gharibabadi went further, asserting that the opening and closing of the strait would take place only under Iran's command.

He said Tehran would continue enforcing its blockade until Washington accepted what Iran describes as the reality of its defeat and abandoned its claims over the waterway.

Trump claims US controls passage

Trump has repeatedly claimed that the United States effectively controls the Strait of Hormuz through its naval presence.

During his New York remarks, he said ships could not pass through the waterway unless Washington permitted them to do so. His comments followed similar assertions earlier in the week about American control of the strait.

Iran strongly disputes that claim and has maintained that it retains the ability to regulate traffic through the strategic passage.

The war between the United States and Iran has increasingly become focused on the strait, with both sides attempting to demonstrate their ability to control maritime movement and impose economic costs on the other.

Traffic through Hormuz has fallen dramatically amid the conflict. Before the war, around 130 vessels passed through the waterway each day, while only a handful have been making the transit on some recent days.

Why Hormuz matters

The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world's most strategically important maritime passages.

Situated between Iran and Oman, the narrow waterway connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. It provides the principal maritime route for oil and gas exports from several major Gulf producers.

Around one-fifth of global petroleum liquids consumption normally passes through the strait, making any prolonged disruption capable of affecting crude prices, fuel costs, shipping and the wider global economy.

Its narrowest point is only about 33 km wide, while the shipping lanes used by commercial vessels are considerably narrower.

That geography has long given Iran considerable strategic leverage. Tehran has repeatedly warned during periods of confrontation with the West that it could disrupt shipping through Hormuz.

Shipping severely disrupted

The latest confrontation has turned those longstanding warnings into a major international shipping crisis.

Tanker traffic through Hormuz has slowed sharply, while attacks and threats against vessels have increased the risks for commercial operators.

On Friday, only a small number of vessels reportedly passed through the strait, none carrying crude oil, as shipping companies continued to avoid the area.

Two more ships were also reported attacked around the waterway as tensions escalated. Iran has targeted vessels it accuses of violating its restrictions, while Washington has warned that it can sustain its own naval blockade against Tehran.

An Abu Dhabi National Oil Company vessel also came under attack while passing through the strait, according to the UAE. No injuries were reported and the situation aboard the vessel was brought under control.

Fuel prices feel impact

The disruption is increasingly being felt beyond the Middle East.

Oil markets have remained volatile as traders assess the possibility of a prolonged interruption to Gulf supplies. Brent crude was heading for a weekly increase of around 6 per cent on Friday amid continuing uncertainty over Hormuz.

American motorists are also facing sharply higher fuel costs. The average US gasoline price stood at around $4.08 a gallon on Friday, roughly 29 per cent higher than a year earlier.

Trump acknowledged the higher prices during his remarks but defended his Iran policy, arguing that Americans would have to tolerate increased fuel costs as part of efforts to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

The economic consequences have added domestic pressure on the US administration as the conflict continues without a durable settlement.

Talks remain stalled

Diplomatic efforts to end the confrontation have made little progress.

The United States and Iran had entered negotiations earlier this year and reached a memorandum of understanding in June aimed at pausing hostilities. The arrangement subsequently collapsed amid mutual accusations of violations, and the US reinstated its blockade in July.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday that Tehran had not decided to resume negotiations with Washington.

He acknowledged that Qatar and Pakistan were exchanging messages with Iran but stressed that these contacts did not constitute negotiations. Separate discussions with Oman were focused on maritime arrangements in the Strait of Hormuz.

Tehran has linked the resumption of normal shipping through Hormuz to concessions from Washington, while the United States is attempting to increase economic pressure on Iran.

The Trump administration has signalled that further measures could be imposed to squeeze Tehran financially. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said Washington is preparing economic steps against Iran of an unprecedented scale.

Strait becomes centre of confrontation

The war, which began with US and Israeli strikes against Iran on February 28, has evolved into a wider military and economic confrontation in which control of Hormuz has become one of the central issues.

Iran sees its ability to disrupt the passage as one of its strongest sources of leverage, while Washington has sought to demonstrate that its naval forces can determine who moves through the waterway.

Trump's suggestion that the United States could eventually claim Hormuz as its own territory has now added a sovereignty dispute to an already volatile military confrontation.

Tehran's response made clear that it has no intention of accepting such a claim. For Iran, the issue is not merely control over shipping but sovereignty and strategic leverage in a waterway whose disruption has consequences far beyond the Gulf.

With diplomatic negotiations stalled, tanker traffic severely restricted and both sides insisting that they control the strait, the battle over Hormuz is increasingly emerging as one of the defining fronts of the US-Iran conflict.