Iran rebuffs Trump’s claim over Hormuz amid report of ship strike

Iran rebuffed U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim that the Strait of Hormuz would soon become U.S. territory, as a ship in the crucial waterway was reportedly struck and negotiations with Tehran appeared no nearer to resuming.

“The Strait of Hormuz has been Iranian, is Iranian, and will remain Iranian; this strait will only be closed and opened under Iran’s command,” Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said in a post on X late Friday. “The Strait of Hormuz cannot be seized by tweet, nor by aircraft carrier, nor by issuing an order, nor by an election speech.”

Earlier, Trump claimed that after the U.S. defeats Iran, “pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States.”

Trump, known to cite the phrase “to the victor belong the spoils,” has floated the possibility that the U.S. could impose tolls in the strait once the conflict ends, though he later dropped the idea. The strait was an open, un-tolled international waterway before the U.S. and Israel started the war on Feb. 28 by launching strikes against Iran.

Iran’s foreign minister was quoted as saying the two sides do “not have anything like a ceasefire.”

“No negotiations have been held between us and the United States at this time,” Iranian news outlet Shahrara News quoted Seyed Abbas Araghchi as saying early Saturday. “Qatar and Pakistan are exchanging messages between the parties and are in contact with us, but this does not mean negotiations.”

Separately, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre (UKMTO) — an organization backed by the British Navy — said Saturday it received a verified report of a bulk carrier “being struck by an unknown projectile which has hit the hull.”

Following the breakdown of an interim ceasefire in June, shipping in the strait has repeatedly come under fire from Iranian projectiles and the U.S. has struck Iranian targets as part of its blockade of Iranian ports.