Adds details on President Trump's territorial claim to strait of Hormuz
President Donald Trump is threatening an indefinite naval blockade against Iran — and a US territorial claim on the strait of Hormuz — marking a new approach to pressuring Tehran.
The US resumed its naval blockade against Iran a month ago, seeking to ratchet up economic pressure on Tehran following the collapse of a short-lived ceasefire deal. Trump on Wednesday said the US had "total control" over the strait of Hormuz and might "keep it", even as Iran continues attacking passing ships. On Friday, Trump escalated his rhetoric at an event in New York.
"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," Trump said.
Those remarks come as the Trump administration prepares to unveil new economic sanctions against Iran next week, while pledging to maintain a naval blockade against Iran indefinitely.
"We can hold it as long as we need to. Indefinitely," US defense secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday.
The growing prospect of indefinite war marks a shift from earlier in the conflict, when Trump kept claiming that a US victory was only weeks away. Trump has been claiming "total control" over the strait of Hormuz, while saying that Iran's ability to threaten vessels will diminish because the country is "totally broke".
Iran also claims to have control over vessel traffic through the strait. "The strait of Hormuz is closed. Our control over all movements is complete and decisive," Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp Navy commander Ali Azami posted on X on Thursday. Iran is using sporadic drone and missile attacks to curtail traffic through the strait. The UAE on Friday said Iran had attacked two vessels affiliated with state-owned oil company Adnoc as they were transiting the strait of Hormuz.
Such attacks may be nearly impossible for the US to stop, absent a massive escalation in the war or a ceasefire deal, analysts say.
"There's no simple solution to it," Hudson Institute senior fellow Michael Doran said at an event the Washington-based think tank hosted on Thursday. "We have a messy conflict, which is going to be with us for many, many months, and probably years to come."
The threat of indefinite war has created a tricky political environment for Republicans heading into the midterm elections on 3 November. On Friday, Trump said consumers currently paying an average of $4/USG for gasoline in the US should remember that that higher price is providing a "great service" for the world.
"For you to pay a tiny little bit more for your gasoline, just remember you're doing it so that a very evil country cannot have" a nuclear weapon, Trump said.
Trump administration officials say crude exports out of the Mideast Gulf are higher than would appear from available ship tracking data. US energy secretary Chris Wright said pipelines are exporting 6mn b/d, while tankers are exporting 8mn-9mn b/d through the strait of Hormuz.
"In round numbers today, 14mn-15mn b/d are leaving the Arabian Gulf region, versus the 20mn b/d pre-conflict," Wright said Thursday in a Fox News interview, referring to the Mideast Gulf. "So we're short 4mn-5mn b/d from this region, but it's much smaller hole than people think it is."
