Trump: US will Soon Claim Strait of Hormuz as American Territory
President Trump says the US will soon claim the Strait of Hormuz as American territory and deliver a crushing economic blow to Iran, defending the naval blockade.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - US President Donald Trump announced in a speech that his country will soon recognize the Strait of Hormuz as territory belonging to the United States and will deliver what he described as a devastating economic blow to Iran. He also defended the naval blockade on Iranian ports, calling it a "steel wall" that will not be lifted even if fuel prices rise, arguing that preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons is a service to humanity.
Delivering remarks on Friday, Trump argued that his administration's pressure campaign against Tehran has produced results he said the public does not fully grasp. "Nobody has any idea how successful we are. They don't want to write it. But they know," Trump said, adding that Iran itself is aware of the toll.
Trump claimed Iran's navy has been effectively destroyed, telling the audience that 159 Iranian ships are now at the bottom of the sea and that around 212 Iranian aircraft have been shot down. He also said Iran's radar systems and intelligence equipment have been knocked out and that the country's missile manufacturing capacity has been reduced by roughly 82%.
Trump described Iran's leadership as largely eliminated, saying its top tier is gone, its second tier is gone, and its third tier is half gone. He said this has left no viable counterpart for negotiations, joking that Iran is the only country in the world where no one wants to be president.
Trump said Iran's currency has become valueless and that the country is experiencing 350% inflation. He criticized media coverage he characterized as inaccurate, citing reports suggesting Iran was faring well in the conflict and dismissing them as "fake news."
Trump also referenced Venezuela, saying the US has taken millions of barrels of oil out of the country weekly under a new working arrangement. Turning to the broader region, he recounted a conversation with the King of Saudi Arabia, saying the Saudi monarch had told him that after being dismissed a year earlier, the United States is now regarded as the most powerful country in the world, a sentiment Trump said other leaders share privately.
Trump closed his remarks by asserting that the US military is more powerful than at any point in its history, saying: "America is back, and our greatest victories are still to come."