The President of the United States, Donald Trump, published this Tuesday an image in which he declares the Strait of Hormuz as “new territory” of the United States, amid the cross rhetoric between Washington and Tehran as the deadline they set to reach a definitive peace agreement has expired.
In a post on his social network, the White House chief shares an image of the Strait of Hormuz, between Iran and Oman, with the message “new U.S. territory.”
A few minutes later, Iranian authorities responded to the message through the Deputy Foreign Minister, Kazem Qaribabadi, who on social media called Trump’s aspirations over the strategic passage “illusions.”
“Soon his illusion regarding the Strait of Hormuz will be corrected, or we will correct the illusions of this deluded person,” said the Iranian leader.
This message comes as Iran has emphasized that the passage of Hormuz will not open until the United States fulfills its commitments under the memorandum of understanding signed in mid-June and as the deadlines given to achieve a final agreement to cease hostilities have passed.
Last week, Trump assured that he will “declare” the Strait of Hormuz U.S. territory “very soon” after the end of the war against Iran, despite the enormous difficulties in recent weeks for the parties to sit down to negotiate, and in an allusion to the control the United States exerts through the naval blockade in the area.
In a new twist, he threatened this Monday to attack Oman, even though Omani authorities have been mediators throughout the process and are negotiating with Iran the management of the Strait of Hormuz, if Muscat “stands in the way” of his objectives.
Additionally, he suggested to the Islamic Republic that it must “raise the white flag” and “surrender” to the situation it faces due to the war launched last February, after acknowledging that a negotiated agreement will not be reached.
The United States and Iran let expire the 60-day deadline they set to achieve a global agreement to end the war in the Middle East, which was supposed to agree on measures to limit Iran’s nuclear program.
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