Trump Says U.S. Navy Controls Strait of Hormuz
The president called the American blockade on Iran "infallible" and answered Tehran's demand for war compensation with a demand of his own.
President Trump said Monday that the United States, not Iran, controls the Strait of Hormuz, describing the American naval blockade of Iran as a "steel wall" as the war that began Feb. 28 settled into a stalemate.
"The only one that has control of the Strait of Hormuz right now is the United States Navy. We have a blockade that's been infallible," Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. He said some ships are transiting the narrow waterway, through which about 20% of the world's oil supply passed before the war began. Iran, he said, "can make trouble, but they're broke."
Tehran has made the same claim about controlling the strait and has occasionally attacked ships attempting the crossing.
After Iran made compensation for war damage one of its conditions for reopening the waterway, Mr. Trump countered with a demand of his own. "I am likewise demanding compensation from Iran, for all of the people that they have killed and gravely wounded with their roadside bombs and many conflicts," he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
The president said any payment should cover the families of the 17 U.S. sailors killed in the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen, as well as "thousands of others killed in combat." He also said Iran should pay the families of "the hundreds of thousands of innocent protestors that Iran has killed over the last 50 years, not to mention the 52,000 that have been killed in the last five months." He said he had instructed his representatives "to put this firmly into any, and all, future negotiations."
Energy markets read the standoff as a sign the strait will not reopen soon. Oil prices surged 5% on Monday before steadying: Brent crude, the international benchmark, was unchanged at $87.72 a barrel, and the U.S. benchmark was flat at $82.13.
Prices swung between $72 and $102 last month as hopes rose and fell that Washington and Tehran could reach an agreement allowing tankers to leave the Middle East freely again.
Mr. Trump has described himself as Iran's "number one target," a comment he made during last month's NATO summit.
This article was produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI), in accordance with our editorial policy.
