President Donald Trump posted a map depicting the Strait of Hormuz as new U.S. territory after another tanker was struck in the waterway, as Iran, Oman and regional mediators remain divided over control of the strategic shipping route and stalled peace negotiations.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
President Donald Trump intensified his rhetoric over the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday by posting a map depicting the strategic waterway as new U.S. territory, one day after saying the United States should claim the strait and as another tanker attack added to tensions surrounding one of the world’s most important energy transit routes.
The social media post came amid continuing attacks in and around Hormuz, where Iran and Oman say they oversee outbound transit under arrangements connected to an Oman agreement that is still being finalized.
UK Maritime Trade Operations said Tuesday that an unidentified projectile struck a foreign tanker traveling on an outbound route, damaging the vessel’s engine room and causing a crew casualty.
The remaining crew members were rescued and assisted by the Omani Coast Guard.
The incident was the latest in a series of attacks in recent weeks as Iran continues asserting its authority over maritime traffic through the strait.
Those attacks have occurred intermittently rather than in rapid succession, but continued uncertainty surrounding the waterway has contributed to rising oil prices as Washington and Tehran maintain competing demands.
The Strait of Hormuz is not the only major shipping route facing heightened military activity.
Conflict has also continued near Yemen and throughout the Red Sea, where the Iranian-aligned Houthis are escalating operations near the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the Houthis are shutting down operations at a strategic port and moving closer to the Bab al-Mandeb, another critical global shipping chokepoint.
Yemeni authorities cited by the Journal said recent Houthi missile and drone attacks forced the closure of the port of Mokha.
The port serves as an important logistics center for civilian shipping and for anti-Houthi forces operating along Yemen’s Red Sea coast.
“This is the most significant escalation in quite a few years, maybe since 2020,” Adam Baron, a Yemen expert and fellow with New America, told the Journal.
Baron described Mokha as the principal logistics hub for anti-Houthi forces along the Red Sea.
The Houthis control mountainous areas inland from the Bab al-Mandeb, while opposing forces control the coast along the waterway itself.
The expanding maritime conflict comes as diplomatic efforts to end the broader U.S.-Iran war remain stalled.
Qatar has indicated that its direct mediation efforts will not resume until Iran and Oman finalize their agreement governing transit through the Strait of Hormuz.
Critics of that arrangement have argued that it would effectively give Iran substantial operational control over the waterway.
“Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari says during a news conference that countries mediating between Iran and the US are waiting for Iran and Oman to announce an expected agreement on transit through the Strait of Hormuz, before pushing Washington and Tehran to resume negotiations aimed at ending their war,” Al Jazeera reported.
Trump’s latest statements on Hormuz have added another layer of uncertainty to those negotiations.
After saying Monday that the United States should declare the Strait of Hormuz U.S. territory, Trump followed with the map posted to Truth Social on Tuesday depicting the waterway under American control.
The comments came immediately after expiration of the 60-day diplomatic period established under a memorandum of understanding signed in June.
Tehran has said the agreement was already effectively dead and therefore “irrelevant,” accusing Washington of violating its terms on multiple occasions.
Despite the escalating confrontation over Hormuz, Trump has continued to identify preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon as the central objective of the conflict.
“The number one Goal is, and always will be, that Iran cannot have, in any way, shape, or form, a Nuclear Weapon. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP,” Trump previously wrote on Truth Social.
The dispute over the Strait of Hormuz now intersects with several simultaneous pressure points: repeated attacks on shipping, rising oil prices, an unfinished Iran-Oman transit agreement, stalled U.S.-Iran negotiations and increasing military activity around the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb.
With Qatar waiting for the Hormuz arrangement to be finalized before resuming mediation and Trump publicly asserting a U.S. claim over the strait, the route has become an increasingly central issue in the wider confrontation between Washington and Tehran.
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