The president of the United States, Donald Trump, published this morning on his Truth Social network a map in which the Strait of Hormuz appears described as “new American territory”, insisting on an idea that he has expressed with greater vehemence in the last week. This bottleneck thus adds to the list of territories that the president has threatened to annex, which include Greenland, Canada or the Panama Canal.
In another publication, the Republican has announced that he has no planned new talks with Tehran and has insisted that the strait, through which a fifth of the world's oil passed before the war, "remains open and operational" thanks to the US naval blockade, which remains "fully in force", and the removal of all the mines that Iran had installed in the sea.
However, his words do not match the reality on the ground, where early on Tuesday a projectile hit a ship trying to leave Hormuz, as reported by the British Trade Operations Center of the United Kingdom, which caused the death of a member of the crew. Although no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, Iran has been launching these types of missiles since the war began on February 28, which has greatly limited the passage of oil tankers and shippers through the strait.
The president of the Iranian Parliament and one of the main negotiators with the US, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, denied this Tuesday that Washington controls the strait and has assured that Tehran will continue to do so until it meets the conditions agreed in the memorandum of understanding signed in June. “Until the US fulfills its commitments under the agreement, including the lifting of the blockade, the release of frozen assets, the lifting of oil sanctions, the end of threats and military operations on all fronts, as well as the application of the other conditions to which it committed, the Strait of Hormuz will not reopen,” he ruled.
In parallel, the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, has responded directly to the publication in which Trump declares Hormuz as a US territory: “Just as Trump correctly wrote the name of the eternal Persian Gulf, his illusion about the Strait of Hormuz will soon be corrected, or we will correct the illusions of this delusional man for him,” he published on the social network X.
While the US says it has no plans for new talks with Iran, Tehran is actively negotiating with Oman to establish a safe route in Hormuz, through which ships could have to pay tolls or “environmental and security” fees. The Islamic regime announced yesterday an “understanding” with Muscat, but the terms of the agreement have not yet been made public. Upon learning that these talks were taking place, Trump threatened this Monday to bomb Oman if it "interferes" with his effort to reopen Hormuz without tolls, in a surprising threat against an ally and mediator in this war.
These developments come as the memorandum of understanding signed in June between the US and Iran, which committed to a 60-day ceasefire and the lifting of their respective naval blockades in the region, has already expired, while Tehran agreed to limit its uranium enrichment in parallel with Washington's lifting of sanctions. Although the ceasefire was broken after a few days, it remained in force until this Monday; once expired, the situation remains unstable and both sides have increased the tone of their threats.
Proof of this is that, for the first time in several weeks, the United Arab Emirates' air defense systems detected a "missile threat" over the country this Tuesday. In an alert published on its social networks, the Emirati Ministry of Defense has urged the population to “stay in a safe place and follow the warnings and updates from official sources.” And it has specified that, if sounds are heard, they are the result of interception operations by air defense systems.
The president of the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, received a call from Trump this morning, as reported by the Emirati news agency WAM. In his information, he assures that the two counterparts have addressed “various aspects of cooperation and joint work” and have analyzed “the situation in the Middle East and the initiatives that are being carried out in this regard.”
Although the brief note did not give more details, it is possible that the conversation was both about the detected missile threat and around Hormuz, since Abu Dhabi has reported in recent weeks multiple attacks by Iran on several ships of its national oil company that were trying to cross the strait.
This critical bottleneck remains the main disagreement between the parties. For Trump, who started the war with other objectives in mind – the fall of the regime, its denuclearization and the elimination of its allied militias in the region – Hormuz is an obstacle and reopening it on his own terms is his main goal. For this reason, last week he declared that "after the war in Iran" he was going to take control of the strait, an idea that he has been repeating for days and in which this Tuesday he went one step further by declaring it as his "new territory."
The mediating countries do not view the direct negotiation between Iran and Oman as negatively as Trump does. Egypt's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that this understanding could "pave the way" for Washington and Tehran to return to talks with a view to reaching a "comprehensive and permanent agreement that addresses all concerns and reinforces regional security and stability." The statement came after a meeting between the Egyptian foreign minister, Badr Abdelatty, and his Omani counterpart, Badr al-Busaidi.
