Trump Threatens to Claim the Strait of Hormuz as US Territory — What's at Stake

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he would "pretty soon" declare the Strait of Hormuz a territory of the United States, escalating a standoff with Tehran just as a diplomatic agreement between the two countries was set to expire on Sunday, August 16, 2026 (Al Jazeera).

Speaking at a police academy in New York, Trump claimed the strait is "essentially" already US territory because of the naval blockade the United States has maintained against Iranian ports since the war began on February 28. "No ships get through unless we want them to," he said (Al Jazeera). Trump also framed the declaration as something he would pursue after "defeating Iran" and urged Americans to accept paying "a tiny amount" for oil (ABC News, Australia).

The remarks, first reported on August 13 and 14 by multiple outlets, built on earlier statements. CBS News reported that Trump said on Wednesday the US has "total control" over the strait, a claim Iran has disputed (CBS News). NBC News and The Guardian both reported the "territory" framing, with The Guardian noting it came as Trump's administration struggled to conclude the war with Iran (NBC News; The Guardian). CBC News noted it was unclear how seriously Trump meant the remark (CBC News).

Iran's response was swift and pointed. Iran's head of judiciary called Trump's remarks "nonsense," branded the US president as "criminal and feather-headed," and insisted the strait belongs to Iran. Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the Strait of Hormuz "cannot be seized by tweet, aircraft carrier, order, or election speech" (Al Jazeera).

The Strait of Hormuz is one of the most critical maritime chokepoints in the global energy supply chain. A chokepoint is a narrow waterway that a large share of the world's shipping must pass through, making it a natural pressure point for anyone who controls it. The United States has maintained a naval blockade against Iran's ports during the ongoing war, which began on February 28. Iran, in turn, has blocked passage through the strait as a form of leverage (Al Jazeera).

The timing adds a layer of diplomatic pressure. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) — a formal but non-binding agreement — signed between Washington and Tehran in June was set to expire on Sunday, August 16, the day after Trump's police academy speech. The expiration removes one of the few formal bilateral instruments in place since the war began, leaving no negotiated framework to replace it unless a new arrangement emerges.

Several factors complicate any unilateral US declaration of sovereignty over the strait. Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), straits used for international navigation are subject to the regime of transit passage, which grants all countries the right of unimpeded transit. The coastal states bordering such straits hold sovereign rights over the waters within their territorial sea but cannot suspend the right of transit passage. The United States, while not a party to UNCLOS, has long treated its navigational provisions as binding customary international law — that is, practices so widely accepted that they function as law even without a signed treaty.

Neither Iran nor Oman, the two littoral states (countries bordering the waterway) of the Strait of Hormuz, has ceded or recognized any foreign sovereignty claim over those waters. Iran's territorial claim to its portion of the strait is a long-standing position predating the current conflict. A US declaration of territorial sovereignty would therefore have no basis in existing international legal frameworks and would likely face opposition not only from Iran but from maritime states and trading partners whose energy and commercial shipping transits depend on the waterway.

The broader context here is that Trump's statement could function either as a genuine declaratory policy shift or as rhetorical pressure on Tehran as the June MoU expires. The US naval blockade already gives Washington de facto — meaning actual, if not legally recognized — control over what passes through the strait. A formal territorial declaration would not change the operational reality but would alter the legal and diplomatic framing of that control. That framing matters: calling the strait US territory rather than a zone under temporary military interdiction raises the stakes for any state or commercial actor navigating or contesting the blockade.

Gharibabadi's phrasing — "cannot be seized by tweet, aircraft carrier, order, or election speech" — captures the core of Iran's counter-argument: that de facto military control, however extensive, does not translate into sovereign title under international law. Iran's judiciary chief went further, personalizing the rejection with the epithets "criminal and feather-headed," a signal that Tehran's leadership is not inclined to treat the statement as mere bluster to be ignored.

The expiration of the June MoU on August 16 removes the last negotiated bridge between the two parties since hostilities began six months ago. Whether either side seeks a replacement framework, or whether the conflict enters a new phase defined by military fact on the water rather than diplomatic instruments on paper, will shape the trajectory of the war and its impact on global energy markets in the weeks ahead.