Daijiworld Media Network - Washington

Washington, Aug 23: US President Donald Trump on Sunday again shared an image on Truth Social describing the strategically important Strait of Hormuz as “NEW US Territory”, even as Iran maintained that the crucial waterway remained closed and would not be reopened unless Washington changed its approach.

Trump had first shared the same image on August 18. Earlier, while speaking at a police academy on Long Island on August 14, he had said, “Pretty soon I'll be declaring the Strait of Hormuz a territory of the United States.”

Meanwhile, Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei said Tehran would not reopen the waterway unless the United States fulfilled its commitments and changed its behaviour.

“The Strait of Hormuz is closed and will not reopen,” Iran International quoted Rezaei as saying.

He said the situation could change if Washington altered its conduct and honoured its commitments, but stressed that the United States would have to take concrete action.

“It cannot be resolved through words and talks,” Rezaei said.

Despite Iran's declaration, maritime traffic through the strategically vital waterway has increased in recent days. Nearly 200 ships crossed the Strait of Hormuz last week, compared with about 150 the previous week and around 40 two weeks earlier, according to UK maritime trade operations data cited by the New York Post.

The Strait of Hormuz is a critical global energy chokepoint through which a significant share of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas shipments traditionally pass.

Maritime intelligence firm Kpler said more than 80 per cent of liquid cargoes passing through the strait over the past two weeks either used an Omani route backed by the US and authorised by the International Maritime Organization, or went “dark”, meaning their tracking signals were no longer publicly visible.

Rezaei also said Iran had reached an agreement with Oman regarding a “middle route” through the Strait of Hormuz. However, a joint statement formally confirming the arrangement had not yet been finalised.

The competing claims over the waterway come amid heightened tensions between Iran and the United States, with the strategic strait remaining at the centre of concerns over regional security and global energy supplies.