U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday he plans to claim the Strait of Hormuz as U.S. territory after the war with Iran ends, without explaining how Washington would pursue such a move.
"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," Trump said at an appearance in the state of New Jersey.
Oil prices have surged as a result of the Iran war, as Tehran has disrupted shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz with threats. The waterway is one of the most important trade routes for oil and gas and a central point of contention between Washington and Tehran.
Trump, together with Israel, launched a war against Iran on Feb. 28 with the stated aims of ending the country's controversial nuclear program 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 U.S. Navy mounting a blockade of Iranian ports in an attempt to cripple its economy.
