Trump says will ‘soon’ declare Strait of Hormuz US territory

• President Trump announced he will soon declare the Strait of Hormuz as US territory after defeating Iran.
• The US and Israel started a war against Iran to end its nuclear programme and trigger a popular uprising.
• Iran controls much of the Strait, blocking civilian ships, while the US Navy enforces a blockade on Iranian ports.

GARDEN CITY, United States - President Donald Trump on Aug 14 said he would “soon” declare the Strait of Hormuz waterway part of US territory after defeating Iran.

“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,” he said with a chuckle, during a political rally at a police academy in New York state.

“It’s true,” he added.

Trump, together with Israel, launched a war against Iran on Feb 28 with the stated aims of ending the country’s controversial nuclear programme and sparking a popular uprising.

However, Iran struck back by establishing de facto control over much of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital passageway for large amounts of global energy and other commodity shipping.

The United States remains locked in a stalemate with Iran over the strait, with Iran denying access to much of the civilian shipping and the US Navy mounting a blockade of Iranian ports in an attempt to cripple its economy.

“We have the blockade. No ships get through unless we want them to,” Trump the cheering crowd of supporters and police. AFP